Resources Spotlight: Transgender Survivors

Yesterday was the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20). This is a day that honors all of the Trans identified folks who have been killed as a result of being who they are. We’ve lost hundreds of folks globally due to hate this year alone. Sexual violence disproportionately impacts trans survivors, and they frequently do not have access to safe, competent services. Today’s resource spotlight focuses on providing resources and support for Transgender and Gender Non-conforming victim/survivors in our Sexual Assault Response Teams and agencies that are part of the team.

I’ve had the opportunity to attend conference work sessions focused on providing services to transgender survivors of sexual violence. The presenter, michael munson, is the executive director of Forge. Michael offers a friendly and very informative approach to their work (with no shame or guilt) on how to start better serving trans survivors. It can be really hard to have conversations about under-served populations without worry, guilt, or shame attached to them and michael does an outstanding job. During the presentations, I found this clip they shared to be very enlightening and maybe you will, too. What was most surprising to me was that Forge is a national technical assistance provider. Forge offers a bunch of publication and resources as well as trainings. If you find that your SART is struggling to start tackling issues related to better serving trans survivors, get connected with Forge!

Know of any other really good resources for working with trans survivors? Share them in the comments!