A trans woman in Afyon was attacked in her home by an assailant wielding a knife. The assailant also attempted to rob the woman. Buse Kılıçkaya from Pink Life Association commented on the attack: “Aggressors get encouraged when hate crimes go unpunished. We are treated like abandoned children.”
Source: Yıldız Tar, “Afyon’da trans kadına bıçaklı saldırı”, (“Knife Attack on Trans Woman in Afyon”), kaosgl.org, 5 August 2015, http://www.kaosgl.com/sayfa.php?id=19965
Trans woman Buse was attacked in her home by an assailant wielding a knife yesterday (4 August). After the hate crime, Buse was treated at the hospital and the assailant was caught and arrested by the police.
He attacked with a knife, attempted to rob
The assailant called and visited Buse, a sex worker, disguised as a customer. Immediately upon gaining access to her apartment, he stabbed her on the right side of the stomach. The assailant attempted to rob the trans woman, as she lay injured on the floor. When Buse told him that she had no money, the assailant fled.
Buse called her friend Derin, who came to her rescue on time. Buse was taken to the hospital and spent a day in intensive care. Her treatment continues.
Her friend saved her life
The assailant, a phone vendor allegedly named Süleyman, was caught thanks to Derin’s assistance to the police. Derin spoke to KaosGl.org:
“I immediately came to the scene when my friend called me. She told me about the incident before she lost consciousness. I found the number of the assailant in my friend’s phone and reported it to the police. That was how the police were able to find him.”
“We have been receiving threats on the phone”
Derin, also a trans woman, noted that she remains nervous because of the incident:
“I’m nervous and scared. I don’t want to communicate with anyone. I live alone just like Buse. I don’t have anybody. We have been threatened on the phone before but this is the first time a physical attack happened.”
“Aggressors get encouraged as crimes go unpunished”
We solicited the opinion of Buse Kılıçkaya, president of Pink Life LGBTI Solidarity Association and trans activist, on the attack: “Aggressors get encouraged as the attacks on trans people go unpunished.”
Kılıçkaya noted that this was a hate crime:
“This attack is called robbery and wounding in law. But in a country where trans people are not secured the right to live and treated like abandoned children, these attacks are beyond just robbery and wounding. If you don’t punish aggressors, trans sex workers will get treated as if they are objects.”
“The state’s and the aggressor’s mentalities are the same”
Recalling the posters about the “Tribe of Lot” in the streets of Ankara and the calls to massacre, Kılıçkaya remarked: “This is the country of trans people who are stabbed in the middle of the street, who can’t get anyone’s attention when screaming for help, and whose demonstrations get pepper sprayed.”
Noting that the state’s and the aggressor’s mentalities are the same, Kılıçkaya highlighted the discrimination that trans women experience in the legal process:
“Courts call trans victims “terrorists:” they nurture the attitude that “perverts” deserve their lot. As long as this climate of discrimination and hate is in place, the hate crimes go unpunished, and constitutional protection is unavailable, these attacks will sadly increase.”
