'Police Detain Trans Women to Get Performance Points'

Click to read the article in Turkish

A trans woman has said that she was detained and tortured by the police in Taksim, İstanbul on new year's eve.

Yıldız İdil was subjected to verbal insults and battered by police officers "because of her identity," she told ETHA agency. "We will struggle until violence against us ends at work, on the street, at home."

Members of the Revolutionary Party held a press briefing about the incident, saying that numerous trans women were also detained on December 31.

"When she was brought to the police station, we saw that numerous trans women were detained. The trans women in custody said that this was a 'routine practice on new year's eve'," said Burcugül Çubuk from the party.

The police did not cite a reason for the detentions, she said, adding that the only intention of the Beyoğlu police was to reach its "performance points quota."

The police also arbitrarily impose fines on trans women upon the Law of Misdemeanor, although transgender identity is not cited as an offense in the law, Çubuk noted.

"Many trans women have been fined while 'walking on the street' or 'at home' for thousands of lira. At the point where they resist, law enforcement officers respond to transgenders more violently. Generally, appeals to the courts do not achieve results." (EMK/VK)