TGEU Countries: Serbia Direct transphobic violence reacted to the violence, except for an older woman who Another difficult but typical situation was that reported During the ProTrans project, ten transphobic incidents Three-quarters of the incidents reported during the Pro- attacked the trans person, saying that ze got what ze de- by a trans woman, who experienced verbal abuse from were reported to Sloboda Prava. All incidents includ- Trans project were violent incidents, of which 55 per served because ze “made them wonder if you are male her family members due to her gender identity. ed verbal assault – insults, transphobic comments and cent were committed against sex workers and were re- or female”. This transphobic comment is representative ported to Sloboda Prava. Because of the intersectional of attitudes towards gender nonconforming people in discrimination experienced by trans sex workers in Ser- Serbia and is often used to justify the violence to which bia, a separate analysis of these cases is presented here. they are subjected. The reported cases include four cases of harassment The incident involving the healthcare system was re- and verbal and/or physical violence on the street and on ported by a trans woman living in a smaller town in ing that in 60 per cent of the cases the perpetrator was public transportation, one case of a trans person being Southern Serbia. She requested therapy in order to a police officer. Police officers committed verbal, sexual verbally assault in the healthcare system and one case begin the gender-confirmation process. However, two I thought they were going to kill me. and physical assaults. In light of this, it is not surprising of sexual harassment and verbal assault by a landlord. medical doctors, members of the National Health Insur- D, trans woman, after physical assault that all sex workers who reported being assaulted to physical violence. In one case, a sex worker was sexu- because he “has never had sex with a trans woman”. ally abused by police officers, while in another a person When I refused, he started threatening me with his son, was arrested illegally and detained overnight. In three who is a member of well-known extremist organisation. cases, the perpetrators were unknown to the victims, N, trans woman and in one case the perpetrator was a client. It is strik- ance Fund’s Committee, were openly insulting towards Sloboda Prava refused to report the incidents to the In assaults on the street and public transportation, per- her, stating that she would never get that referral, and police. By engaging in various kinds of abuse, the police petrators are usually unknown to the victim. that people like her should be expatriated from Serbia. send a clear message to all of society that it is acceptable Trans sex workers who work on the street are in a particu- to attack sex workers, making their situation even more For the record Another trans woman reported an incident with her larly difficult situation when it comes to violence and the difficult. The only support sex workers receive comes 1. A young trans woman was attacked by five male per- landlord, who sexually harassed her when he discov- lack of police and legal protection. Sex workers’ lives and from other sex workers (which is documented in these petrators in a town in Western Serbia late at night on her ered her gender identity; when she refused to have sex rights are violated by various parties – the police, clients, cases as well) and Sloboda Prava. Because trans sex way home from a nightclub. The perpetrators followed with him, he threatened her with his son, a member of an unknown persons on the street and family members. workers are at the very margins of an already seriously her, physically attacked her and threatened to kill her. extremist organisation. She managed to run away to a main square under cam- + 84 + threats. Seventy per cent of the cases also involved My landlord tried to force me to have sex with him marginalised group, it is crucial to continue and further In Serbia, sex work has the status of a misdemeanour develop programmes that will provide them with legal era surveillance. The attackers continued to attack her A transsexual woman who, after gender-confirmation punishable by up to 30 days in prison. A person can be and psychosocial counselling and to improve and imple- and ran away when another person entered the square. surgery, returned to her hometown in Vojvodina report- arrested only when caught in the act or if either the sex ment a system for monitoring police behaviour in order The case was reported to the police, but when Gay- ed repeated verbal assaults by persons who knew about worker or client makes a written statement declaring to begin building trust between those two groups. ten-LGBT contacted them asking for information, they her gender identity. Apart from threatening behaviour, that they were engaged in a sex-work transaction. In replied that there was no information about this inci- one of the incidents involved an involuntary outing: a practice, however, sex workers are arrested for being in dent in their system. person who knew about her transition told her story hot spots and charged on the basis of statements they are to every person who came into his shop. An additional required to write at the police station. Though sex work- 2. A trans person was attacked in Belgrade on public problem is that this man’s shop is on her way to the bus ers’ knowledge of their rights can sometimes be enough transportation. The perpetrator sexually harassed zir, station in the town centre, so she is exposed to various to keep police from abusing their authority, it more typi- stating that he could not tell if ze was male or female. comments on a daily basis. As a consequence, she lives cally puts sex workers in danger because police officers This situation was especially disturbing because nobody in constant distress and fear. react violently to their assertion of their rights. + 85 +