He was only 16. Brianna Ghey, a transgender teenager, was found stabbed to death in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday 11 February in a park on the outskirts of Manchester, England. Two suspects, a 15-year-old boy and a girl, were taken into custody. While several NGOs are warning of a worrying increase in transphobia in the UK, an investigation has been launched to determine the exact circumstances of the death.
A targeted crime?
If the investigation is only just beginning, no hypothesis is excluded. Already the day after the murder, the investigators spoke of a targeted attack. Observations then nuanced by the person in charge of the file: ” There is, for the moment, no evidence to confirm that the circumstances of Brianna Ghey’s death are related to hatred “he told the BBC microphone.
However, an acquaintance of Brianna Ghey confided to the iNews newspaper that the latter was the victim of harassment: “ I know some people weren’t nice to her, she was bullied and her mental health was compromised. »
Media treatment against the background of transphobia
As the British site complains Stunned, most of the mainstream media that covered the story first ignored the fact that Brianna Ghey was trans. A common mechanism For Stunned : “ As transphobia continues to grow in the UK, it’s important to honor and acknowledge Brianna Ghey’s trans identity. »
Indeed, as revealed by the NGO Stop Hate UK, the trans community is the most targeted group within the LGBT+ community. The latest figures from the association speak for themselves: in 2020-21, UK police recorded 2,630 hate crimes against transgender people, a 16% increase on the previous year. This number is still vastly underrepresentative, as out of 108,100 survey responses, 88% of trans people did not report the most serious incidents. Furthermore, 48% of them said they were not satisfied with the police response when reporting these serious incidents.
Most targeted trans people
The NGO also reveals that trans people are more likely to experience threats of physical or sexual harassment or violence than the LGBT community as a whole. And to add: The majority of transphobic incidents reported to Stop Hate UK were verbal abuse, threatening behaviour, harassment and offensive behavior such as being insulted while yelling, being asked invasive or inappropriate questions or being harassed by neighbours, colleagues or strangers. »
Even in France the statistics are alarming: according to the Stop Homophobia association, trans people account for 60% of discrimination against LGBT people. ” 85% of them have been victims of a transphobic act and 37% of them have suffered more than 5 in their life. 59% were insulted and 27% harassed he reveals the association in a May 2021 column.
The murder of Brianna Ghey therefore extends the long list of trans people murdered every year in complete indifference.
Front page photo credit: YouTube screenshot.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
