One of the cruelest tricks in the transphobic toolkit? Framing trans people as some invincible, mythical threat to cis safety.
Trans folks aren’t a danger to cis society, it’s very much the other way around. Research suggests that between 50 and 66 per cent of trans people experience some for of sexual abuse or sexual assault in their lifetime. Trans people are four times more likely to be the victim of violent crime than cis people.
The political pressure to exclude trans women from single-sex spaces is justified by erasing both their humanity and their lived experience – as women, and as people especially vulnerable to violence themselves.
We can see this dynamic playing out in the executive orders signed by Trump last week, the implications of which are becoming clearer with time. In particular, Trump’s so-called ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ order is positioned as an attempt to “defend” cis women.
There is an obvious irony to Donald Trump – someone who has publicly been publicly accused of sexual misconduct by at least 26 women – claiming to have women’s best interests in mind. And when we look at the small print of this order, it’s clear that they do nothing to end violence against women in any meaningful way and instead just open up the trans community to further violence.
When we look into the fine print of the ‘Defending Women’ order, there is a note of particular concern – the ways that trans people may become further vulnerable to sexual violence.
Below, we talk to a legal expert and a trans advocacy charity about what trans people and allies need to know.
Trans people in prisons
Section 4(a) of the executive order introduces a blanket rule requiring the federal Bureau of Prisons to house trans women in male prisons and detention centres, regardless of their personal circumstances.
This replaces a policy that has been in place for more than a decade, mandated by a Prison Rape Elimination Act regulation, which enabled prison officials to make individualised decisions about housing placements, depending on safety and security concerns for the individuals involved.
The removal of this policy could have grave implications for trans people’s physical and sexual safety while incarcerated, explains Shannon Minter, legal director, NCLR.
“We all want prisons to be safe and secure. The policy ordered by President Trump undermines that goal by mandating a categorical rule that overrides the discretion of prison officials,” he says. “This dangerous rule would do nothing other than increase sexual assaults and cause upheaval in our nation’s prisons.”
For Minter, the change is a serious safeguarding setback. “For over ten years, prison officials have had the discretion to make individualized housing decisions to protect transgender women from severe violence in men’s facilities,” he explains. “Corrections experts agree that case-by-case assessment is crucial for safety throughout the prison system and oppose any blanket rule that would eliminate their ability to make individualized determinations.”
Trans people’s access to spaces for survivors of sexual violence
Section 4(b) of the executive order stipulates that The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall “submit for public comment a policy protecting women seeking single-sex rape shelters”.
Elsewhere, in Section 4 (d) the order states the following: “Agencies shall effectuate this policy by taking appropriate action to ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by sex and not identity.”
In short, trans women will be blocked from accessing federal-funded services aimed at female sexual violence survivors while all trans people will be barred from federal-funded spaces appropriate to their gender. Given that trans people experience high levels of sexual victimisation, barring them from spaces where they can access support could be hugely detrimental.
According to Advocates for Trans Equality, a trans advocacy charity, the order opens the door for discrimination within protective services. “The recent changes stemming from Trump’s executive orders pose significant barriers to trans people’s access to spaces designed to support survivors of sexual violence,” said a spokesperson for the charity. “These policies threaten to undermine protections for trans people by enabling discrimination in shelters and other protective services.”
Continuing, they stress that trans-inclusive policies are vital for ensuring the well being of trans survivors. “Trans people already face disproportionate rates of violence and assault, and limiting their access to safe, affirming spaces only compounds the harm they experience. Ensuring trans-inclusive policies is essential to creating a system where all survivors are supported and safe, regardless of their gender identity.”
Resources for trans survivors
Sexual violence against the trans community is a sad reality, one which isn’t being helped by the Trump administration. However, there are resources out there to help.
- FORGE: A charity which provides support to trans and non-binary people impacted by sexual violence, which also offers a range of self-help resources.
- National Sexual Assault Hotline: A hotline which provides free, confidential support 24/7 by phone (800.656.HOPE) in English and Spanish.
- The Trevor Project: 24/7 emergency helplines available at 1-866-488-7386 via chat www.TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678-678.
