A human rights group has released graphic videos of attacks on gay and lesbian people in Russia which it says are on the rise following the introduction of anti-gay laws.
In June, President Vladimir Putin signed laws aimed at protecting children by banning any advertising or promotion of non-traditional relationships.
That include fines on people who hold gay activist rallies.
The Spectrum Human Rights Alliance campaigns to end discrimination based on sexual orientation across Russia, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Belarus and the former Soviet Union.
Its release of the videos coincides with calls for a boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in the Russian City of Sochi.
Russian men use a stun gun on a gay man they allege is a paedophile.
Activists say these sorts of attacks are on the rise with neo-Nazi groups luring gay people - sometimes to their deaths - with fake internet profiles.
Peter Tatchell is an Australian-born, British-based human rights activist.
"Young gay teens are being lured by internet postings to rendezvous and then they're being subjected to beatings, torture, and in some cases they've even been killed. This is happening while the Russian police do little or nothing to bring the perpetrators to justice."
Another video shows a disabled gay teen being set upon by several men.
Forced onto the ground, he begs for mercy as one man knees him in the head and another pins him down with a foot on his back.
Australian Olympic Gold medallist Matthew Mitcham says he's appalled by what's occurring.
The openly gay Olympic diver told Fox Sports he's been bombarded on Facebook and Twitter by people who are concerned about the abuses.
He's added his voice to those who object to the 2014 Winter Olympics being staged in Sochi.
"The IOC chose Sochi 2014 to be the host venue for the 2014 Winter Olympic games and they did so based on the charter, you know, part of the IOC charter is that the Olympic games shall be free of persecution based on sex, religion, race and sexuality and so that now that Russia has just introduced these new anti-gay laws, it's in clear contradiction to the IOC charter."
While he's concerned, Matthew Mitcham doesn't think a boycott of the games is the right response.
He says it would only punish the competitors who've spent years preparing to compete at an elite level.
And Peter Tatchell says gay activists in Russia also think a boycott isn't the way to go - but for different reasons.
"Interestingly, local Russia lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered groups do not support a boycott. They say that it will further demonise them in the eyes of the Russian public, that they'll be blamed, they'll be seen as being unpatriotic and that could actually escalate the hatred and violence against them. They're saying that gay athletes and spectators should go to Sochi, be visible, wear rainbow ribbons, carry rainbow flags, defy the law, make sure that this law becomes unenforcable."
Melbourne man Luke David found the videos disturbing viewing and decided to write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with a plea for action.
He says there are valid arguments for and against a boycott but says something must be done.
"There's the argument that going over there and flaunting the laws and showing that we're not afraid and perhaps people maybe are arrested and put in jail temporarily that could be an outcome of that and if that's something that activists are willing to take the risk on that would be an effective way of spreading this message pretty bloody wide, pretty bloody quickly. The other way would also be to boycott, which would definitely damage athletes if the event went ahead in Sochi. However if the IOC I guess lived up to its charter of the IOC, they would move the Olympics to a different location."
British actor and writer Stephen Fry has published his letter to the British Prime Minister David Cameron and the International Olympic Committee which pleads for an absolute ban on the Olympics being staged in Russia.
He's likened what's occurring to to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.
Fry writes that, "Every time in Russia (and it is constantly) a gay teenager is forced into suicide, a lesbian 'correctively' raped, gay men and women beaten to death by neo-Nazi thugs while the Russian police stand idly by, the world is diminished and I, for one, weep anew at seeing history repeat itself."
Speaking ahead of this year's Athletic World Championships in Moscow, Russia's Sports Minister Vitali Mutko says any concerns about the laws affecting athletes are unfounded.
(translated) "I want to calm everyone down first of all, as in addition to this law on the territory of Russia, we have the constitution of the Russian Federation that guarantees all citizens the right to a private life, guarantees that there will be no interference in this private life. This law is not intended to deprive citizens of any country, religion, or orientations of their interests and rights. This law is intended to ban the propaganda among youth more than anything else."
While the debate over the merits of an Olympic boycott continues, there's another boycott already occurring and Peter Tatchell says everyone can take part.
"Right now there is a spreading global boycott of Russian vodka. It is mainly symbolic but it does send a very strong message to the Russian government and it's an easy action that every individual can take up as a way of showing their disgust at what the Putin regime is doing."
