Patterns In The Data

Debbie Hayton writes:

Every murder is one tragedy too many, and my thoughts are with the families of these victims and the people who loved them. Some were children; reports from Brazil included the distressing case of Keron Ravach, who was only 13, and “just starting the process of gender transition” whatever that might mean. A young life ended, with the citation, “The killer had requested sexual services with the victim.”

But whilst we remember, what can we do to reduce the number of lives lost next year, and the year after? There are patterns in the data: prostitution, and poverty. Over half of murdered trans people whose occupation was known were sex workers. Transgender Europe identified “a worrying trend when it comes to the intersections of misogyny, racism, xenophobia and hate towards sex workers, with the majority of victims being Black and migrant trans women of colour, and trans sex workers”.

Maybe, if the world addressed those problems, it might be a safer place for everyone? While all these victims were identified to be trans, it is far less clear how many were murdered because they were trans. The majority were in Central and South America. A third were from Brazil alone.

Europe, on the other hand, is one of the safer parts of the world to be trans. In the last year only fourteen of us were murdered across the entire continent. Six were migrants; the overlap with poverty and powerlessness cannot be overlooked. Once again, there were no reported murders of trans people in the UK. While the overtones today are rightly sombre, the truth is that, since 2008, there have been only 11 recorded murders of trans people in Britain.

Meanwhile, according to Karen Ingala Smith’s Counting Dead Women Project, at least 122 UK women have been killed by men (or where a man is the principal suspect) so far in 2021. Most recently, Pauline Quinn, 73, was found dead in Nottinghamshire. Lawrence Bierton, 61, has been charged with her murder and robbery.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is next Thursday, but much less is said about it. The contrast is stark, as a Twitter search for the hastags #TDoR and #IDEVAW will show.

If we really cared for vulnerable groups we would be remembering women, as well as addressing poverty and stamping out the sex trade. But I fear that today is largely performative. How many people attend Trans Day of Remembrance services and vigils to put pressure on governments to make Latin America a safer place for everyone? Or have they swallowed the assumption that trans people in the UK are in particular danger? While the data shows that we are safer than women, the message is insidious.

Do read the whole of this important article.