Transphobic Hate Crimes

Trans Woman Burned and Murdered in Turkey

Hande Kader, a trans woman based in Istanbul, disappeared a week ago. Her friends and lover filed a missing person’s announcement. Hande Kader’s burned body was found in Zekeriyaköy.

Source: “Trans Kadın Yakılarak Katledildi”, Pembe Hayat,  12  August 2016, http://pembehayat.org/haberler.php?id=1187

Trans sex worker Hande Kader was last seen getting in her customer’s car about a week ago and has not been heard from since. Her friends and partner have reported Hande’s disappearance to the police.

hande_kader

Following the report, police initiated a search and rescue. During the operation, they found a burned trans woman’s body near Zekeriyakoy.

Hande Kader’s partner D. mentioned that Hande was wearing prosthetics which helped identify her burnt body.

In order to confirm the body’s identification, Hande’s family has been informed and the burial will be on hold until they arrive.

 

Is the Proposition of Homosexual Intercourse an “Unjust Provocation?”

Elif Ceylan Özsoy, “Eşcinsel İlişki Teklif Etmek “Haksız Bir Fiil” midir?” (“Is the Proposition of Homosexual Intercourse an Unjust Provocation?”), bianet, 17 March 2009, http://bianet.org/biamag/bianet/113198-escinsel-iliski-teklif-etmek-haksiz-bir-fiil-midir

The judiciary in Turkey is, unfortunately, biased against homosexual and transsexual people who have been victimized or murdered. It is a position that essentially blames them and punishes them for existing and constituting an identity.

What hurts our feelings of justice in homosexual and transsexual murders is the fact that the perpetrators benefit from unjust provocation reductions. The defense, memorized by perpetrators, “he proposed homosexual intercourse, I lost it and killed him,” is typical; the court accepts this defense and gives a reduced sentence..

What are  the legal grounds to justify these reduced sentences? In this article, I will discuss the “Situations Affecting Crime” and the Unjust Provocation institution.

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