In recent years, the Azerbaijan government has been intensifying crackdowns against its LGBTQ+ community. In 2017, at least 83 people were detained by the police for being gay or transgender. The detainees reported being tortured and blackmailed. The same year, at least four Azerbaijani citizens who identified as LGBTQ+ committed suicide. According to ILGA Europe, an global NGO advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, Azerbaijan occupies the last place among 49 countries on the organization’s Rainbow Index consecutively for three years in a row.