TGEU The ProTrans project THE MANIFOLD FORMS OF TRANSPHOBIC VIOLENCE sexuality and relationships of power that collude to Moldova: Serbia: “Trans people are invisible in Moldova. Homophobic “Cooperation and forming friendships with people discriminate against transgender people. It can be soci- and transphobic attitudes on the part of the majority who have different life experiences than our own are etal, which is reflected in rejection and mistreatment of restrain agency. Transphobia can be institutional, reflected in policies, laws and institutional practices that keep trans people invisible in our country. This situation is of tremendous importance for our own development and upsetting and needs to be changed. Moldova is a patriarchal so- enrichment. When I think of the time I have spent cooperating ciety in which being a woman is less valuable than being a man. with the trans-support group, I see that I have gained more than However, being an out gay man or an out trans man is even hard- I have given them, both personally and professionally.” er than being a cisgender heterosexual woman. Most people do not know what it means to be a trans person, and the existing Slavoljupka Pavlović, legal expert B oglarka Fedorko joined TGEU in Feb- transgender people by others. 7 Finally, it can manifest ruary 2014 as the project manager of in direct transphobic incidents and hate crimes specifi- the ProTrans project. She is passionate about cally targeted at trans people. The present publication human rights and has been active in diverse fields, demonstrates the ways in which trans people are sub- such as international education-inclusion projects, Ro- ject to all these forms of violence in the five countries in ma-rights advocacy and sex-worker empowerment. which the ProTrans project was implemented. information about trans people is usually full of stereotypes and Prior to working at TGEU, she developed and managed prejudices. We have to work to change the narratives about trans projects at the Open Society Foundations and various people by giving them a voice and creating a safe public space that grassroots organisations in Hungary. She has experi- is trans people’s space, too.” ence in advocacy, training delivery and capacity-building work at the national, European and UN levels, including Victoria Apostol, Co-founder of the Feminist Initiative Group “No matter where the person comes from and no mat- on gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, sexual and repro- ter how old they are, their first thought is always that ductive rights and the decriminalisation of sex work. they are the only one who has ever had their specific problem.” What we have seen during the course of the project Kristian Randjelovic, is that there are numerous cases of direct violence ”Transgender people prefer not to report violations Coordinator, Multiple Discrimination, that are not even considered as such by members of their rights to state authorities out of fear that Trans Programme and Member of of the trans community. However, these instances their gender identity will be disclosed and that they will TGEU’s Steering Committee of violence are just the tip of the iceberg: underly- therefore be subjected to ill-treatment by state officials”. ing them in all of the countries in which ProTrans was implemented are more subtle, but not less Angela Frolov, Lobby and Advocacy Programme Coordinator damaging, manifestations of structural, institutional and societal violence. and primary legal-aid provider at GENDERDOC-M Information Centre Trans people around the world face multiple types of violence: structural, institutional, societal and direct violence. Structural violence is violence that is inscribed in the very social structures in which trans people live, produced and maintained by ideologies of gender and + 14 + + 15 +