Switchboard’s Statement on Trans Inclusive Domestic Abuse Provision

Switchboard’s Statement on Trans Inclusive Domestic Abuse Provision

Brighton & Hove LGBT Switchboard are proud to be one of just a few organisations in the country providing services by and for LGBTQ survivors.

We work with people whose experiences of gender do not sit within a cisgender binary, rather they identify as trans, non-binary, intersex, or genderqueer (TNBI).

We are increasingly concerned about the lack of support and suitable accommodation available to TNBI survivors fleeing domestic violence, especially trans women and TNBI people of colour. Whether or not survivors can access appropriate and timely support must not be a postcode lottery.

Simon Dowe, Chair of Trustees says “We are increasingly concerned by the frequent and disrespectful narrative adopted by people to justify their beliefs. It is not acceptable to give the idea that trans people will violate others. This is a worrying indication of people’s negative and harmful views of trans people.”

We know these services are needed. The failure to gather data on trans people attempting to access emergency accommodation, invalidates statistics and renders them invisible to commissioners. Many TNBI survivors who do leave their perpetrators are forced to stay in hostels where they are especially vulnerable to further victimisation and a lack of the wrap-around support that traditional refuge spaces can provide.

As practitioners with lived experience, we know the impact that exclusionary approaches have on TNBI people working in & accessing domestic abuse services and we encourage allies to speak out for equitable trans-inclusive services across the UK.