Subject: Transgender Violence Study Nearing Launch
From: Riki Anne Wilchins <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 09:15:04 -0400

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]