Transgender People in Ireland Face High Rates of Violence
Today (9th December) the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched a ground-breaking report 'Being Trans in the European Union'. The report points to how trans people experience frequent discrimination and harassment, and draws upon the responses to FRA’s wider EU LGBT survey. The survey’s most striking result is the high level of repetitive violence and hate-motivated crime trans persons suffer.
“Despite significant advances, Ireland is not a safe place for trans people,” said TENI Chief Executive Broden Giambrone. “The report shows, again, that trans people’s lives are marred by violence and harassment.”
Hate-Motivated Violence & Harassment
According to the results of this report, Ireland holds the ignoble distinction of having the second highest prevalence (13%) of hate‑motivated violence in the last 12 months in EU Member States, following Lithuania. This is significantly higher than the EU average of 8%.
The report also found Ireland to be in the top 5 member states when it came to hate-motivated harassment in the last 12 months, with a prevalence of 31%. This compares negatively to the average of 22%.
Respondents were asked if they avoided expressing their gender or avoided certain places for fear of assault, threat or harassment. Of the Irish respondents, 43% said that they avoided expressing their gender and 66% stated that they avoided certain places. Again, Ireland fared poorly as the EU trans average was 32% and 52% respectfully.
“These are incredibly troubling findings. There are real people behind these statistics and violence and harassment effects not just trans people but also their families and communities. There is an urgent need for action to deal with this,” said Giambrone.
STAD
In June of this year, TENI launched the STAD: Stop Transphobia and Discrimination Report. The STAD report documents hate crimes against transgender people in Ireland and was the first report of its kind. The data was captured using an online reporting mechanism, allowing people to report incidents of transphobia and discrimination in a safe and anonymous manner.
The STAD report found that 88% of respondents had experienced verbal abuse or insults, 28% experienced threats of violence, 19% experienced physical violence and 6% experienced sexual harassment.
Despite the experiences recorded in the STAD report, however, transgender people are not expressly protected under any equality or hate crime legislation in the Republic of Ireland.
Speaking at the launch of the report, TENI’s Chief Executive Broden Giambrone said, “Trans people, like all Irish people, are striving to live authentic lives and to thrive in society. There is no doubt that Irish society is changing but the violence and discrimination the trans community faces must stop. To change the way that trans people are treated we need to understand the full extent of the problem and look for viable solutions. The STAD report holds a mirror up to Irish society and show us we must be better.”
The report is now available to download here.
You can also find details of this year’s STAD campaign here.