Transphobic Hate Crime
International Transgender
Day of Remembrance

Yesterday – 20th November

Taking place since 1998 - 13 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
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
Ramazan Cetin, a 24 year old trans woman,
was shot dead by her brother in a hospital in
front of other patients on 6th 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 31st 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
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“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, Emails 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.
Council of Europe
SOGI Recommendations
on Hate Crime
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 hatemotivated 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.
Reducing Transphobic
Hate Crime
Improve
Police
Response
Improve
Monitoring
Improve
Reporting
Training to
improve
procedures
Standardised
data collection
Signal hate
crime is
unacceptable
Training to
improve
attitudes
Report
statistics to
OSCE & UN
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)


TGEU Transrespect versus Transphobia
Worldwide Research Project


http://www.osce.org/documents?keys=hate+crime&
document_type=All
http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org
ILGA Europe

http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/issues/hate_crime
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.
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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?