From: Riki Anne Wilchins Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 09:15:04 -0400 Subject: Transgender Violence Study Nearing Launch Transgender Violence Study Nearing Launch NEW YORK CITY - October 9 Trans-activists today announced they are nearing completion of the questionnaire for a groundbreaking study of violence against the transgender community. Organizers hope to use its results to establish baselines rates on violence against the transgendered. Said Riki Anne Wilchins of the NYC chapter of The Transexual Menace: "Our community has been sorely lacking this kind of study for years. Everyone suspects the incidence of violence is high, but no one has any systematic data enabling us to call on goverment agencies and representatives for action. Bashing and assault against this community has to stop, and establishing solid evidence is a first step down that road." Organizers say they also hope their study will play an important role in upcoming efforts to add transgender as a category in the federal Hate Crimes bill. The questionnarie was begun over a year ago in coordination with the Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (AVP). AVP is a national organization mandated with tracking gay-related bias crimes. They are have generally been regarded as both aggressive and successful in focusing public awareness on gaybashing. Capping the announcement, Dr. Sandra Cole and Dr. Matthew Witten, two well-respected senior research scientists from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, have agreed to assist in the study design, preforming the final data analysis, and develop the final report summarizing the study results. Study organizers are beginning the process of applying for funding from various philanthropic sources. They plan for the questionnaire to be distributed throughout the US, through both institutional and more informal, community-based efforts. [END]