Why are transgender hate crime rates soaring?

New figures show number of reported
incidents in UK has risen by 81%

In Depth

The BBC,
which obtained the data, says 1,944 hate crimes were reported to 36
police forces across England, Scotland and Wales in the last
financial year, compared with 1,073 in the previous 12 months. And
that latest total does not include figures for the eight
forces who did not respond to a freedom of information
request.

What is behind the rise?

The Home Office told the BBC that the increase is “largely” down
to more people telling police about incidents, and forces more
routinely classifying and recording such incidents as hate
crimes.

But equal rights charity Stonewall says the increases reflect “a
society where transphobia is everywhere”, reports the London Evening Standard. Transgender abuse
victim Sue Pascoe, who lives near York, said: “For me, [this is]
one of the scariest times I’ve lived through and I’m 59 now.”

Ben Hunte, the BBC’s first specialist correspondent on LGBTQ+
news, says the figures show that transgender people in the UK
“currently have it harder than most”.

The vastly increased rate of incidents may be “somewhat due to
more people coming forward” but even so, “some may find it shocking
that more is not being done to protect these clearly vulnerable
individuals”, he adds.

Meanwhile, ongoing media debates about transgender issues
– such as those about proposals to make it easier to legally change gender –
may increase the risk of attacks by keeping the issue alive, Hunte
argues.

What sort of abuse is involved?

Many transgender hate crime victims are physically attacked, but
threatening behaviour is also common.

Social housing worker Andi Woolford, from Wakefield in West
Yorkshire, told the BBC about how she was approached and abused
while simply sitting in her car.

“A guy came out of a block of flats, called me a paedophile,
threatened to stab me, smashed my car up, held a dog chain up to my
face, just really unbelievable,” Woolford said.

Stonewall estimates that two in five trans people have
experienced a hate crime or incident in the past year.

What do police say?

The National Police Chiefs’ Council says officers believe that
transphobic attacks have been “significantly under-reported” in the
past and that the true scale of the problem is now emerging.

Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke,
the organisation’s lead for LGBTQ+
issues, said: “We are working closely with trans groups
to increase awareness and understanding of our staff, as well as to
build confidence and trust in the police by the trans
community.”

What can be done?

Campaigners believe a combination of public
education, policy change and community efforts is
needed to tackle the problem. 

Laura Russell from Stonewall said: “We need people to realise
how severe the situation is for trans people, and to be active in
standing up as a visible ally to trans people, in whatever way they
can.”