ISTANBUL police are raiding homes, detaining trans woman and confiscating computers and phones

Over the past week police in the Findikzade and Haseki regions have been using Facebook and other social media to track down Istanbul trans woman according to LGBT News Turkey . They’ve been raiding their homes, confiscating computers and phone and subjecting the detained woman to mandatory medical examinations.

“Out of the 233 transgender women sex workers, 171 have been subjected to violence. Some 49.7 percent said the police had used violence against them and 31.2 percent said they had been sexually assaulted by the police, including rape,” said Kemal Ördek, the head of Kırmızı Şemsiye. (Red Umbrella)

The interviews for the report were conducted in Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Istanbul, İzmir, İzmit, Mersin and Sivas.

“Forty percent all transgender individuals murdered in Europe are reported to have been killed in Turkey. Among European countries, Turkey is followed by Italy, where 27 percent of the killings have been reported,” Ördek also said.

The police have done this with complete impunity, refusing to return some of the seized property.

There’s no safe haven in a police station

Most of the assaults go unreported. Transmen are vulnerable especially if they are engaged in sex work.

Turkey’s government has hoodwinked the EU into beginning the admission process.

The EU has turned a blind eye to these gross violations of trans human rights and has proceeded with admission despite Turkey’s refusal to sign a EU declaration calling on member states to decriminalize transsexuality and homosexuality.

Trans X Istanbul Trailer from Trans X Turkey on Vimeo.

Trans X Istanbul is a personal documentary film and part of the multi-platform project Trans X Turkey about the human rights situation of Transgender people (Trans*) in Turkey.

Thousands of Trans*Women live in the big cities of Turkey. Since 2009 there has been an increase in the murder of Trans*. If crimes against Trans*Women are even investigated by the police and brought to court, the perpetrators can usually rely on being exempted from prosecution. Ebru, a Trans*Woman from Istanbul, fights against the displacement and murder of her companions. She has experienced exclusion from state, society and family in her own life. For 25 years she has been active for human rights and the rights of LGBTIQ. She wants to change Turkish society with humour, self-irony and political acumen. She meets Margarethe, a 85-year-old German retired nurse and mother of the film‐maker, and establishes together with her a retirement home for Trans*. Urban transformation of Istanbul and the protests around the Gezi Park resonate throughout the film.

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