It is a well-known fact that domestic violence is an issue that plagues women across every strata of society. However, when discussing domestic violence or intimate partner violence, there is often an emphasis on straight, cisgender women, to the exclusion of the stories and experiences of trans women. However, trans women too are facing an epidemic of violence, often at the hands of the people closest to them.

To be fair, the experiences of trans woman are so often marginalized, trivialized, and erased that it is perhaps no surprise that trans women’s experience of domestic violence and intimate partner violence are not necessarily prominent in mainstream discussions of violence against women. American society’s understanding of trans issues seems to be at such a nascent stage that there is more public attention to a sort of perverse fixation on trans people’s bodies than on the pervasively difficult circumstances that many trans folks have experienced. (Just check out these cringe worthyinterviews with Laverne Cox to see what I mean and then check out the stories of CeCe McDonald and Islan Nettles for more info).

Indeed, as trans advocate Janet Mock has noted, “This pervasive idea that trans women deserve violence needs to be abolished. It’s a socially sanctioned practice of blaming the victim. We must begin blaming our culture, which stigmatizes, demeans, and strips trans women of their humanity.”

Despite the lack of national outrage to this issue, violence against trans folk is happening:  “While there are no national statistics available for the relatively hidden trans* community, The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) 2011 survey showed that one-in-five trans* people experienced domestic violence at home for their non-conforming gender identities. An alarming 78 percent reported being harassed by teachers and staff, and about half of the 6,500 respondents had been harassed at work.” It is important to note that violence at home and in the workplace, though distinct, are often symbiotic forms of abuse and terror.

When looking at the experiences of trans women, in particular, and trans women of color more specifically, the issue of violence is even more dire. Law professor Leigh Goodmark notes that,  “Trans women are particularly likely to be marked for violence. The 2010 NCAVP survey found that 44% of the murder victims in their study were trans women, but trans women made up only 11% of their sample; in the 2009 report, half of the murders reported were of trans women. Surveys of the trans community have found that 98% of violence in the trans community was targeted at trans women, and that trans women of color accounted for 70% of the murders of trans people reported internationally in 2003.”

Nevertheless, despite the high rates of violence trans women experience, they do not always receive the support, help, and resources that they deserve. As Derrick Ing of Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach and Tiffany Woods of Tri-City Health Center argue, there are many reasons why trans folk experiencing domestic violence do not reach out to law enforcement, for example. Ing and Woods note, “Transgender survivors of domestic violence often choose not to report the abuse due to a number of factors, including a fear of compromising the privacy and safety interests if one is ‘outed,’ denying access to medical treatment or hormones, or endangering one’s legal status if they are an undocumented immigrant, and a fear of the institutionalized transphobia within law enforcement and the judicial system.  Other abusive tactics used against transgender people include using non-preferred pronouns, eroticizing or fetishizing body parts, telling transgender people that no one else will ever love them, and threatening to take their children.” There are not necessarily safe spaces for trans people to turn to when they face violence. Unfortunately, that sort of isolation and lack of resources makes trans people particularly vulnerable to both intimate partner and state sanctioned violence.

As we mark the close of another Domestic Violence Awareness month, let’s be sure to think of all women who experience, whether at home, in their communities, or on the job.

 

Looking to find out more about this issue? Check out the following—

 

The Anti-Violence Project: http://www.avp.org/

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project: http://srlp.org/

The Transgender Law Center: http://transgenderlawcenter.org/

 

And if you or an LGBTQ person you love is facing violence and needs help, you can seek help and report the experience over at the Anti-Violence Project’s website (http://www.avp.org/get-help/report-violence) or call the Anti-Violence Project’s 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline at 212.714.1141.