“Escalating rapidly” – ground-breaking new report into an increase in anti-trans abuse and violence has equality groups calling for action.
Today equality organisations have launched a ground-breaking new report into anti-trans hate on the steps of Victorian Parliament.
The report is the largest ever investigation into anti-trans hate in Australia, compiling data from over 3099 survey responses, including 1309 responses from people in the trans community. The results show that anti-trans abuse, harassment, and violence in Australia is widespread and is escalating rapidly.
It also found that experiences of anti-trans hate increased in the two months preceding the survey, coinciding with the tour of anti-trans lobbyist Kellie-Jay Keen and her rally in Melbourne which was attended by a group of neo-nazis.
Over the last year there has been a sharp increase in activity from anti-trans lobbyists, attacks on LGBTQIA+ events, and the spread of anti-trans disinformation in the media and online. The report has found a correlation between this increase in activity and attacks on trans and gender diverse people.
Jackie Turner, Director of the Trans Justice Project, said “Trans people deserve to thrive, to feel safe in our communities, and have the freedom to be ourselves. But right now our lives are under attack.”
“We are urging Federal and State governments across the country to take decisive action to curb extremism and protect our communities from hate”.
“We know that the majority of Australians support trans and gender diverse people having the same rights and protections as everyone else. These attacks are largely coming from a very fringe, but very vocal group.”
Austin Fabrey-Jenkins from the Victorian Pride Lobby said “In light of these findings we are calling on the Victorian Government to fast-track their planned anti-vilification laws. Next year is too late. Anti-trans hate groups are more brazen than they have ever been before and our communities are bearing the impact.”
“Our community events are being shut down because extremists are threatening the safety of our families and loved ones. We’ve been crying out for more support from the State Government on this issue for months. We hope that this report will be a wake up call.”
The survey found that anti-trans hate (abuse, harassment, vilification) is ubiquitous with 94.55% of all participants reporting seeing online anti-trans hate in the last year.
The survey found that:
- 49.20% of trans participants experienced online anti-trans hate (abuse, harassment or vilification) in the last 12 months and 31.12% experienced more or significantly more anti-trans hate in the two months prior to the survey when compared to the beginning of the year.
- 47.9% of trans participants experienced anti-trans hate (abuse, harassment, or violence) within the previous year and 23.61% experienced more or significantly more in the two months prior to the survey.
- The survey also found that 1 in 6 trans people have experienced anti-trans violence in the last year.
The survey was conducted between the 17th and 25th of April. The report was produced through a collaboration between the Trans Justice Project and the Victorian Pride Lobby, and conducted by researcher Hiero Badge.
To address the shocking results of the report, it recommended:
- Introduce Federal and State anti-vilification laws to protect the entire LGBTQIA+ community from abuse, harassment, vilification and violence
- Work together with social media companies to stop the spread of anti-trans disinformation and anti-LGBTQIA+ hate groups
- Strengthen media regulations to ensure greater accountability for news outlets that promote anti-trans disinformation
- Investigate community-led interventions to curb anti-LGBTQIA+ extremism and de-radicalisation approaches
- Provide funding for further research into the causes and impacts of anti-trans abuse, harassment, vilification and violence and strategies for addressing them
