Every November, we participate in Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-19, 2020) to bring attention to the challenges our community faces. These obstacles include anti-Transgender violence, limited accessibility to healthcare, roadblocks to financial independence and so many more injustices.
Transgender Day of Remembrance takes place at the end of the week (November 20, 2020). On this day, we remember and honor Transgender people who lost their lives to violence. While these events give us the opportunity to reflect on our community’s past and present, they also motivate us to demand for justice and foster a more loving and accepting world for our loved ones. Mitigating violence and abuse toward Transgender people is one step we can take to move things in the right direction for the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole.
Anti-Transgender Violence Reaches All-Time High in 2020
Anti-Transgender violence is growing across the nation. At least 32 Transgender and Gender Nonconforming people (TGNC) were killed in 2020, and the Human Rights Campaign predicts this year will be the deadliest ever recorded for Transgender Americans. This is unacceptable, and we must work together to turn these numbers around.
Signs of Anti-Transgender Violence and Abuse
Violence and abuse come in many shapes and forms. If you or someone you know are experiencing the following signs of violence or abuse, please connect with one of our counselors immediately. We’d like to thank The Supernova Project, a global nonprofit dedicated to addressing abuse within the LGBTQIA+ community, for compiling these lists.
Do you:
- Feel afraid of someone or your partner?
- Avoid talking about certain topics because you are afraid of making someone or your partner angry?
- Feel that you can’t do anything right?
- Believe that you deserve to be hurt, mistreated or abused?
- Think that you’re the one who must be at fault all the time?
- Feel helpless or emotionally numb?
- Cry most days and nights?
Does a stranger or your partner:
- Humiliate you by calling you names or shouting at you?
- Criticize you constantly?
- Treat you so badly that you feel ashamed to talk about it to your family or friends?
- Blame you for making them act abusively towards you?
- Act overly jealous and possessive?
- Keep you from seeing your friends or family?
- Monitor your phone and social media accounts?
- Limit your access to your money, phone or car?
- Force you to engage in sexual activity rather than asking for your consent?
- Threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
- Threaten you physically?
- Hurt you or say they will hurt you?
- Punch you? Kick you? Push you?
- Force you to do things that you don’t want to do?
- Have an unpredictable temper that scares you?
How to Help Someone Who May be Experiencing Violence or Abuse
All of us have the power to support our TGNC friends and family members as they navigate dangerous and difficult situations. We even have the power to save their lives.
Consider taking these steps to help someone who may be a victim of anti-Transgender violence or abuse:
- Refer them to counselors who specialize in anti-Transgender and Gender Nonconforming violence and abuse. Our mental health counselors are just a phone call or text away, and they offer free and confidential teletherapy sessions to help all LGBTQIA+ individuals no matter what they are going through.
- Leaving a violent or abusive situation or relationship may not be the safest option for your friend or loved one. However, letting them know you’ll always be there for them can give them the peace of mind they need to develop an escape plan.
- Give them different methods to contact you in case of an emergency (phone number, email address, social media platforms, instant messaging apps).
- Keep in mind that you are not responsible for salvaging them from this situation or relationship, but you can share valuable life-saving resources with them so they can make the first step.
Get the Mental Health Support You Need
If you are experiencing violence or abuse, please reach out to us immediately. Our mental health counselors guarantee confidentiality and are ready to help you with your mental well being.
- Call us at 917-789-7490. We provide counseling services to the LGBTQIA+ community, with a special focus on the Transgender community.
- Text us at 917-789-7490. Standard text messaging rates apply.
- Chat with us by visiting our website and clicking the “Support” button on the bottom of the page.
- Schedule a teletherapy appointment with our TGNC counselors via Theralink.
Join Our Mission to End Anti-Transgender Violence and Abuse
Now more than ever, we need to band together to protect and empower our TGNC family and friends. They deserve to live their lives to the fullest, and you can help them do just that.
Visit our fundraising page to learn how you can help support our nonprofit organization’s life-saving mental health services to the TGNC community. Remember: We have the power to make a difference—and save lives while we’re at it.
Donate Here