"I went back to dressing in secret again, it was like being in secret again," Laura, 26, says. "I was beginning to finally accept myself for the first time in my life and this terrifying experience kind of reset the timer on that. "No one should have to go through that kind of assault on their identity." Sally Goldner, executive director of Transgender Victoria, says trans and gender diverse people are increasingly the targets of violence and hate speech. "There are still people denying our whole life experience," she says. Sunday is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which recognises those who have been injured and killed for expressing their gender identity. It started in 1999 after the murder of African-American transgender woman Rita Hester, who was stabbed 20 times in her apartment. Events are being held in cities across the world this weekend to raise awareness about hate crimes against the trans community and remember those who have suffered from transphobic violence.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 21 transgender men and women have been killed in the US this so far this year. Data from the Trans Murder Monitoring project shows there have been 271 trans people killed worldwide in 2016. Ms Goldner says, while there have not been any fatalities from transphobic attacks in Australia, the community is under fire. "It's not murder, but it's still assault and it could lead to murder." She says there's been a backlash against trans people following attacks on the Safe Schools program, which promotes acceptance of LGBTI students, and many gender diverse people do not report verbal and physical attacks to police. Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow says there is no comprehensive national data about the incidence of hate crimes against trans people in Australia. "But we know from the commission's own research and the research of others that trans and gender diverse people report disproportionately high rates of violence, harassment, bullying and exclusion," he says.

The rates of verbal and physical attacks are particularly high for young people, he says, and a recent survey shows 66 per cent of participants experience verbal abuse and a fifth have reported physical abuse because of their gender identity. "The high rate of violence experienced by transgender people is clearly unacceptable," Mr Santow says. Laura has battled depression and anxiety since she realised she was "different" when she was 10 years old. She never felt at home in her own body. Puberty terrified her. She attempted suicide, she says, to "destroy the feelings". "I was lonely because I thought I was the only one in the entire world who feels this way." Laura made a decision this year not to live in fear of what might happen, or what other people, such as the anonymous man at the bus stop, thought of her. For the past seven months she's been on hormone therapy, the first stage of her transition. She's also supporting a close friend who is transitioning. To her delight, a trans teenager she knows through a support group recently told her she was his role model. "That stuck with me," Laura says. "For someone at 15 to tell me that, when at 15 I had no one to look up to, was amazing. Doing the world a favour, to me, means living."

For help, call Lifeline on 131 114, beyondblue on 1300 224 636 or LGBT phone counselling service QLife on 1800 184 527, 5.30pm to 10.30pm, seven days a week.