A new video from Human Rights Watch released four days before the official start of the Olympics in Sochi details the extent of violence facing LGBT people in Russia.
Passage of the "homosexual propaganda" ban and anti-gay statements by leading public figures appear to have fed growing anti-gay violence in Russia in recent months. These include multiple assaults on one of Moscow's most popular gay clubs; sting operations by organizations like Occupy Pedophilia, where gay men are abducted and humiliated in online videos; and an attack on a social gathering at an HIV services organization in St. Petersburg.