sophiaserpentia | (no subject) (Reply)

Amnesty International posted a report on the participation of police in the stealth genocide of queer people (posted in

The mistreatment and abuse by police documented in the report includes targeted and discriminatory enforcement of statutes against LGBT people, including so-called “quality of life” and morals regulations; profiling, particularly of transgender women as sex workers; verbal abuse; inappropriate pat-down and strip searches; failure to protect LGBT people in holding cells; inappropriate response or failure to respond to hate crimes or domestic abuse calls; sexual harassment and abuse, including rape; and physical abuse that at times amounts to torture and ill-treatment.

While it is impossible to obtain completely accurate statistics, the AI study shows that transgender people, particularly women and the young, suffer disproportionately. A large percentage of transgender people reportedly are unemployed or underemployed, leaving this population more vulnerable to homelessness or situations that leave them exposed to police scrutiny and abuse. Meanwhile, 72 percent of police departments responding to AI’s survey said they had no specific policy regarding interaction with transgender people.

AI welcomes initiatives taken by several police departments to improve their practices dealing with LGBT communities, like gay and lesbian liaison units. However, despite such initiatives, police departments nationwide need to do more to protect LGBT people. Of the 29 departments that responded to the survey, only 31 percent instruct their officers on how to appropriately search a transgender individual; only two thirds (66%) of police departments reported providing training on hate crimes against LGBT individuals; and while most departments provide training regarding sexual assault (86%), more than half (52%) do not include LGBT-specific issues.