Data to Action – Advancing Research on Violence Against Trans Women Around the Globe

Anti-trans violence is a global pandemic that is largely unaddressed by most countries. Violence also disproportionately impacts people of color and marginalized populations within the trans women population. Little research exists to characterize the epidemic of violence against trans feminine people, especially outside the United States, and even less exists on approaches and strategies to prevent and address violence.

While activists and community organizations have broadly disseminated data that are available on the scope of this important problem, less has been done in the science of violence against trans women and trans feminine people. Data are sorely needed to describe the scope of the problem around the world, and to elucidate the pathways between various types of violence, the impact on health and wellness, and to inform and share strategies to prevent and mitigate the effects of violence against trans women and trans feminine people.

Focal topics include, though are not limited to:

• Research that takes place on violence against trans women and trans feminine people in the Global South
• Behavioral and physical health impact of structural violence in stigmatizing laws, policies and/or rhetoric on trans women and trans feminine people
• Studies to articulate the relationship between racism, anti-trans stigma and violence against trans women and trans feminine people
• Comparative data and other studies to examine differences in severity and frequency of violence experienced by trans women and trans feminine people – especially looking for data from regions where research gaps exist
• Sex trafficking epidemiology and examination of reasons for elevated rates among trans women and trans feminine people
• Violence against trans women and trans feminine people engaged in sex work, and specifically from their sex work clients
• Studies to elucidate the pathways between structural factors like housing insecurity and violence experienced by trans women and trans feminine people
• Intimate partner violence epidemiology among trans women and trans feminine people, especially data to document homicides globally and to understand relationship factors that are associated with violence in relationships
• Role of law enforcement in addressing violence against trans women and trans feminine people
• Examination of barriers to safety that address intersectionality for trans women of color and trans feminine people (e.g., barriers to accessing law enforcement, experiences in the justice system)
• Safety and violence in the carceral system for trans women and trans feminine people
• Migration for political and/or personal safety among trans women and trans feminine people
• Homegrown and community-based responses to prevent and address violence against trans women and trans feminine people
• Economic, policy and institutional responses to preventing violence against trans women and trans feminine people
• Research on adverse childhood experiences of violence, especially those that measure relationships with gender expression
• Strategies and cases for including trans women and trans feminine people in larger efforts to address domestic violence
• Trauma as a cause and consequence of violence against trans women and trans feminine people
• Research on approaches to trauma-informed care for trans women and trans feminine people who have experienced violence
• Protections for youth- examination of anti-trans violence that impacts youth and interventions to protect them

Keywords: Violence, gender-based violence, anti-trans stigma, structural violence

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.