Homophobia and Discrimination on

eported that they were afraid of harassment <strong>and</strong> violence on the basis of their gender
identity, while gay men <strong>and</strong> women (45 per cent) <strong>and</strong> bisexuals (39 per cent) reported
lower numbers.
There is no European-wide research data available detailing the police <strong>and</strong> medical
treatment transgender victims of crime experience when they report a crime to the
authorities. However, 18.5 per cent of transgender respondents in the ‘Engendered
Penalties’ study reported that in interaction with the police in the United Kingdom they
felt that they were not treated correctly. Overall 33.5 per cent of United Kingdom
transgender respondents in this study, reported that they would not be confident that
they would be treated appropriately by members of the police should they need their
assistance. 420 Evidently, such lack of confidence in the police will affect crime reporting
by transgender victims.
Good practice: In the United Kingdom, the Northern Irel<strong>and</strong> police regularly reports on
transphobic hate crimes. Their statistical press notice reads “In terms of hate motivated
incidents recorded during 2007/08, sectarian incidents were the most common (1,584)
followed by racist incidents (976), homophobic (160), faith/religion (68), disability (49)
<strong>and</strong> transphobic (7) motivated incidents. 421
Freedom of Assembly
The membership of the only European-wide network of transgender groups <strong>and</strong>
individuals – TransGender Europe – consists mainly of local groups. There is no
research on transgender groups or networks in Europe.
Transgender NGOs are stronger in countries that have a longer tradition of transgender
emancipation <strong>and</strong> other social movements, such as the United Kingdom <strong>and</strong> the
Netherl<strong>and</strong>s. In contrast there are hardly any NGOs with a specific focus on transgender
people in Southern <strong>and</strong> Eastern Europe. Based on anecdotal evidence the stability of
transgender groups can be a problem, as group members are often are disempowered
by their own personal experiences of discrimination, as well as a lack of support. As a
result, in-fighting <strong>and</strong> splinter group behaviour occurs frequently, undermining the
efficiency of such emancipation movements.
This is confirmed by descriptions of national transgender structures in Belgium 422 <strong>and</strong>
the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s. 423 Only in very few countries, such as Finl<strong>and</strong> 424 <strong>and</strong> the
420 Whittle, S, Turner, L, Al-Alami M (2007) Engendered Penalties: Transgender <strong>and</strong> Transsexual People’s
Experiences of Inequality <strong>and</strong> <strong>Discrimination</strong>, Wetherby: The Equalities Review, p. 16
421 PSNI Statistics (2008) Annual Statistical Report, Statistical Report No. 3; Hate Incidents & Crimes; 1st April 2007 – 31st March 2008; Belfast: PSNI; 2008
422 Motmans, J (2006) De Transgenderbeweging in Vla<strong>and</strong>eren en Brussel in kaart gebracht:
Organisatiekenmerken, Netwerken en Strijdpunten, Antwerpen, Hasselt: Steunpunt Gelijkekansenbeleid;
Part II - The Social Situation
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