A street in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district, home to many trans women for years, was placed under police blockade on the night of Jul 18. All entrances and exits were sealed, drones were deployed overhead, and homes were raided during a nighttime operation.
Following detailed searches of each residence, three trans women were taken into custody. They were released the following morning.
Trans women working as sex workers say the violence they have faced in recent days is not coincidental. They describe systematic efforts to displace them from their homes and pressure placed on landlords.
“Police call our landlords and say, ‘Don’t rent to transvestites,’” one woman said. “We can’t work to make a living, and we have nowhere to go.”
‘Every home was searched’
A resident of the street, B.İ., recounted the events of the night: “Around midnight, police blocked every entrance and exit. Then drones started recording from above, and many homes were raided.
"A few hours earlier, officers had gone to a building on the street, asking residents questions like ‘Who lives in this apartment?’ and ‘Whose name is on the lease?’”
She continued, “Around 11.00 at night, they came back and broke down doors. Every home was searched. Our belongings were thoroughly checked.”
According to B.İ., one person whose name was on a lease was detained on charges of “providing space” for trans sex workers.
Another woman reacted to the drone presence, and police charged her with “damaging public property.”
“No explanation was given to us about the operation,” she said. “But for a week now, police have been telling us, ‘Things have changed, be careful.’ We’re not doing anything. Just stepping outside is enough. No matter where we are, sitting at a tea shop or coming out of the market, we’re either detained or fined.”
‘We’ve been too afraid to work for’
B.İ. said a similar pattern of harassment is also unfolding in Bornova Street in İzmir, making it nearly impossible for trans women to both stay sheltered and earn a living.
“We haven’t been able to work for a week because of fear,” she said. “We already weren’t making money. We live in constant fear, of what might happen, how to protect ourselves. We don’t even know what’s happening to us.
"If someone at least said, ‘This is why,’ maybe we could figure out what to do. But no one says anything.”
Calling for support, she added, “We need people to stand in solidarity with us and help amplify our voices. Please, let every journalist report on this. Think about what we’re going through—police calling landlords and saying, ‘This person is a transvestite, don’t rent to them.’
"Then they might as well put us all on a train and send us away. That would be easier than making us suffer like this.”
‘I was detained while having tea’
Another trans woman, E.K., described a separate incident that occurred about three days earlier in another Beyoğlu street.
“I was sitting and having tea when we were approached for an ID check,” she said. “Then the guards came, took our IDs, and stood over us. We were left standing for about half an hour. Then a police car came, and we were put in it. I was filming the incident, knowing it was unfair, and I planned to share it on Instagram.”
When officers noticed her filming, E.K. was taken to a plainclothes officer. “About 15 uniformed officers were with him. He pounded the door and shouted at me for about 20 minutes in front of everyone,” she said. “‘Don’t stand there acting innocent like a child,’ he yelled. ‘We know what you’re up to. Move aside.’”
A woman officer eventually pulled her outside and said, “‘Come have a cigarette. I’ll talk to the chiefs. We’ll give your phone back, just delete the videos.’”
E.K. said she refused. “There was nothing bad in the video anyway,” she added.
Later at the station, she encountered other trans women who had also been detained. “They held me for three hours because of that video. I wasn’t in the street during last night’s raid, but those who were got fined. Now I’m too afraid to work or even leave the house.”
(TY/VK)
