Post by Ayla on Oct 22, 2015 5:56:03 GMT 8
At least 21 transgender women, most of them women of color, have been reportedly killed in the US this year. That number — 21 — may represent a bigger problem than you think: Since trans women of color make up a fraction of the population, LGBTQ and Black Lives Matter advocates are calling the deaths an "epidemic" of violence.
"What we're seeing here is that not only is there an epidemic of violence against black bodies, but, certainly, within black communities, there is an incredible epidemic of violence against black trans bodies," Alicia Garza, the co-creator of Black Lives Matter, told MSNBC. "And when we talk about black lives mattering, we have to make sure that we're talking about all black lives."
Related9 questions about gender identity and being transgender you were too embarrassed to ask
But are these murders a growing epidemic? The answer, worryingly, is we don't know. Local, state, and federal governments don't collect much data on trans populations or violence against them, which means the 21 deaths we know about are — at best — a bare minimum, and it's unclear how big of a problem those deaths signify.
"There's very little data on violence against transgender women of color," Chai Jindasurat, the co-director of community organizing and public advocacy at the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), told me. "There's so much data that needs to be collected for us to make the case that we know we can and should be making to policymakers about why this issue is so important."
www.vox.com/2015/10/20/9574239/transgender-murders-epidemic
"What we're seeing here is that not only is there an epidemic of violence against black bodies, but, certainly, within black communities, there is an incredible epidemic of violence against black trans bodies," Alicia Garza, the co-creator of Black Lives Matter, told MSNBC. "And when we talk about black lives mattering, we have to make sure that we're talking about all black lives."
Related9 questions about gender identity and being transgender you were too embarrassed to ask
But are these murders a growing epidemic? The answer, worryingly, is we don't know. Local, state, and federal governments don't collect much data on trans populations or violence against them, which means the 21 deaths we know about are — at best — a bare minimum, and it's unclear how big of a problem those deaths signify.
"There's very little data on violence against transgender women of color," Chai Jindasurat, the co-director of community organizing and public advocacy at the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), told me. "There's so much data that needs to be collected for us to make the case that we know we can and should be making to policymakers about why this issue is so important."
www.vox.com/2015/10/20/9574239/transgender-murders-epidemic