Transphobic Hate Crime

International Transgender Day of Remembrance Yesterday – 20 th November Taking place since years Remembers those killed by transphobic bias hate crime Last 12 months = 221 reported trans murders Since Jan 2008 = 45 killings of trans people reported in Europe (Albania: 1, Germany: 2, Italy: 14, Poland: 1, Portugal: 1, Russia: 1, Serbia: 1, Spain: 3, Turkey: 18 and UK: 3)

Locations of Reported Murders of Trans People [Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide Research Project: global map of murdered trans people 2008 – 2011]

Thomas Hammarberg’s Gender Identity Issue Paper Recommends that Council of Europe Member States:  Enact hate crime legislation which affords specific protection for transgender persons against transphobic crimes and incidents;

Transphobic Hate Crime Murder Example 1 Ramazan Cetin, a 24 year old trans woman, was shot dead by her brother in a hospital in front of other patients on 6 th Oct 2011 in Ganziantep, Turkey. Her brother confessed to the police that he killed her because she "was engaged in transvestism" and that he "cleansed his honour". The victim was suffering from violence from her family before her murder. [Source: ‘Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide’ Research Project: TvT partner organization Pembe Hayat & The Advocate]

Transphobic Hate Crime Murder Example 2 Didem, a 26 year old trans woman, was killed on 31 st July 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey by a man who had contacted her via Facebook and had agreed to have sex by paying her. He was caught by the police and confessed to the murder saying: "I thought that she was a woman, but she was a trans person. After learning this, I killed her." [ TvT partner organization Pembe Hayat ]

Transphobic Hate Crime Gang Rape Example A trans man in UK was randomly robbed of his mobile phone and wallet by a gang of young men near his home. On his mobile phone the gang discovered text messages which revealed he was undergoing gender reassignment. As a result the gang beat him while shouting transphobic abuse at him and gang raped him. Leaving him lying injured on the ground the gang told him they knew where he lived and would attack him again. [Source: FTM UK]

Transphobic Hate Crime Harassment in Public Example “I had to move out of the town I was staying in due to violent, intolerant people in the area, including my immediate neighbours. I had people physically accost me in the street in the middle of the day, comments made in the supermarket when minding my own business, things smashed up in my back garden. I feared for my own personal safety so much I was restricted to my flat on many occasions for weeks or even months on end.” [Source: Scottish Transgender Alliance]

Experiences of Transphobic Harassment in Public [Press for Change (2009) Transphobic Hate Crime in the EU]

Hate Crime = Any Crime + Bias Motive Most obviously:  Murder  Rape and Sexual Assault  Physical Assault  Destruction of Property and Graffiti

Hate Crime = Any Crime + Bias Motive Can also include:  Domestic Violence  Threatening Letters, s and Phone Calls  Blackmail and Extortion  Verbal Harassment and Public Disorder

United Nations CEDAW CEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women:  CEDAW “all forms of discrimination” includes hate crimes  Concluding observations of CEDAW interprets it as inclusive of all transgender people  Article 2(b): To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women;  Article 2(e): To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise;

Council of Europe CAHVIO CAHVIO – Convention on preventing and combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence 1st legally binding instrument comprehensive legal framework:  Prevention of violence  Protection of victims  End impunity of perpetrators Specifically includes gender identity in Article 3 and explanatory report highlights that gender identity covers all types of transgender people

European Union Asylum Rights Package  The qualification directive – first EU directive to explicitly mention gender identity  Recital 29 and Article 10 (d) – fear of persecution related to gender identity of the person Victims Rights Package  Proposed by European Commission  Support and protection of victims of crime  Introduces bias crime  Clear reference to gender and gender identity and sexual orientation

Council of Europe SOGI Recommendations on Hate Crime 1. Member states should ensure effective, prompt and impartial investigations into alleged cases of crimes and other incidents, where the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim is reasonably suspected to have constituted a motive for the perpetrator; they should further ensure that particular attention is paid to the investigation of such crimes and incidents when allegedly committed by law enforcement officials or by other persons acting in an official capacity, and that those responsible for such acts are effectively brought to justice and, where appropriate, punished in order to avoid impunity.

2. Member states should ensure that when determining sanctions, a bias motive related to sexual orientation or gender identity may be taken into account as an aggravating circumstance. Council of Europe SOGI Recommendations on Hate Crime

3. Member states should take appropriate measures to ensure that victims and witnesses of sexual orientation or gender identity related “hate crimes” and other hate- motivated incidents are encouraged to report these crimes and incidents; for this purpose, member states should take all necessary steps to ensure that law enforcement structures, including the judiciary, have the necessary knowledge and skills to identify such crimes and incidents and provide adequate assistance and support to victims and witnesses. Council of Europe SOGI Recommendations on Hate Crime

4. Member states should take appropriate measures to ensure the safety and dignity of all persons in prison or in other ways deprived of their liberty, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, and in particular take protective measures against physical assault, rape and other forms of sexual abuse, whether committed by other inmates or staff; measures should be taken so as to adequately protect and respect the gender identity of transgender persons. Council of Europe SOGI Recommendations on Hate Crime

Reducing Transphobic Hate Crime Improve Police Response Training to improve procedures Training to improve attitudes Improve Monitoring Standardised data collection Report statistics to OSCE & UN Improve Reporting Signal hate crime is unacceptable Victim support and advocacy services

Example of Transgender Inclusive Hate Crime Law Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice)(Scotland) Act 2009:  Requires statistics to be recorded about whether a crime was motivated partly or wholly by bias based on actual or perceived transgender identity (including transsexual, transvestite, intersex and any other gender identity with is not standard male or female gender identity)  If bias motivation proven in court, judge must state how sentence given has taken into account the hate crime statutory aggravation.

Sources of Further Information and Assistance Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)  document_type=All TGEU Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide Research Project  ILGA Europe 

CASE STUDY A A young trans woman was kept prisoner by her family for several months and repeatedly assaulted by her father and brothers because they felt her femininity dishonoured the family. Her father threatened to kill her but she managed to escape and now she is supporting herself in a different city through sex work. Late one night while she is working a group of men start shouting transphobic abuse at her and then beat her severely. What barriers to seeking justice could she face? What initiatives could be implemented to reduce these barriers and to reduce such hate crimes in the future?

CASE STUDY B A young trans man lives his life with very few people ever knowing about his gender reassignment history. However one day a group of men see him leaving a gender reassignment clinic where he was meeting his doctor. As a result the men suspect he might be trans so they grab him and strip him to see what his body looks like. They shout transphobic abuse at him and gang rape him. What barriers to seeking justice could he face? What initiatives could be implemented to reduce these barriers and to reduce such hate crimes in the future?