The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has released the report "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and HIV-Affected Intimate Partner Violence in 2016."
The report looks at the experiences of 2,032 survivors of intimate-partner violence (IPV) who reported to 14 NCAVP member organizations from nine states, including California, Texas, New York, Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont and Missouri. (Chicago's Center on Halsted was the Illinois representative.)
Among the results are:
—LGBTQ and HIV-affected people of color made up 60 percent of the reports of IPV homicides, and 59 percent of the total number of survivors who reported to NCAVP members in 2016;
—Transgender women were 2.5 times more likely to be stalked, 2.5 times more likely to experience financial violence, and twice as likely to experience online harassment within IPV; and
—There was an increase in the percentage of survivors who identified as Latinx from 24 percent in 2015 to 30 percent in 2016.
Also, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation and the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) have released "A Time to Act: Fatal Violence Against Transgender People in America in 2017."
Since the start of the year, at least 25 transgender people have been killed in the United States—the most on record. Eighty-four percent were people of color, and 80 percent were women.
This report lists those transgender individuals who have been killed so far in 2017, complete with photos and bios. There is then information about cases of fatal violence by race, gender identity and state, among other classifications. (Illinois, for example, has three cases of fatal violence between 2013-17; California and Louisiana were tied for the most, with 10 each.)
In a statement, Center on Halsted Chief Program Officer Dr. Hector Torres said, "As a founding member of NCAVP, Center on Halsted has been providing services to support LGBTQ survivors of domestic and sexual violence since 1988, while contributing to shifting policy and practice efforts to be more LGBTQ-inclusive, nationally."
"Not only are these individuals more likely to be targeted; their options for accessing safe and relevant services diminishes. This is a big reason why LGBTQ specific services are crucial to our communities," added Rachel Tillman, AVP cinical advocate at Center on Halsted.
In Chicago, the majority (57 percent) domestic and sexual violence reported to Center on Halsted's Anti-Violence Program , were made by those who identified as cisgender males. People of color accounted for 63 percent of known ethnicity (29 percent African American, 26 percent Latinx, 3 percent Arab/Middle Eastern, and 5 percent Asian). Of those who reported their sexuality, the majority identified as gay (49 percent) with lesbians (18 percent) making up the next largest category. Transgender survivors face particular vulnerabilities, for instance, reporting additional violence when reporting the abuse to police.
The NCAVP report is at avp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NCAVP_2016HateViolence_REPORT.pdf. The HRC/TPOCC report is at assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/A_Time_To_Act_2017_REV3.pdf .
