An organisation aimed at helping move at-risk transgender people to safety from places which being transgender puts them at risk of harm has launched this week. Here’s what you need to know:
The Trans Rescue story starts May 2019 with the formation of TransEmigrate, this being a group of activists loosely co-ordinating to help trans people escape unsafe countries and areas. The informal structure meant that there were limitations to what they could achieve and so they have now taken the steps to become a fully fleshed out organisation, launching the Stichting Trans Rescue Foundation earlier this week.
Trans Rescue states their missions is: “to provide at-risk transgender people with the lifeline they need to remedy their situation, in the form of help and support to escape their abusive communities or countries.”
To this end they aim to “help their transgender passengers seek safety within their own countries or asylum in safer countries”. Along with their ongoing work helping individual trans people their first post-launch project will be to set up Eden House – a haven for transgender people in Kenya.
Around the world transgender people face discrimination, prejudice, harassment, abuse, sexual violence and even attempts on our lives. The transphobic moral panic coming out of English speaking countries is only ramping tensions up and making things more unsafe for those in coutnries that were already not safe. Internationally, transgender people are in danger and I for one welcome this initiative to help people escape that wherever possible.
If you do too, you can find them on Twitter here and check out their website here. Donations are definitely welcome which you can do here.
