Trans women of colour are at high risk of sexual violence. However, they are often overlooked in national statistics or research on sexual violence against women. This exhibition draws on the findings of a research study which explores the lived experiences of sexual violence against trans women of colour living in Australia.

The photographs and stories in this exhibition represent women’s accounts of sexual violence, their resilience and their need for acknowledgement and support. The full research report can be accessed here.

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The term ‘transgender’, commonly shortened to ‘trans’, is a collective term used to describe individuals whose gender identity and expression is at variance with the biological sex they were assigned at birth (Levitt & Ippolito, 2014; Schilt & Lagos, 2017). The term ‘trans’ means ‘across from’, with ‘trans women’ referring to individuals who were assigned male at birth, but now identify as feminine. Trans women may take up a range of gender identity descriptors that may include woman, feminine, fa'afafine, sistergirl, femme, nonbinary, gender queer, gender fluid, gendernonconforming, or non-binary transfeminine.

The research involved 31 interviews with trans women of colour, and follow-up interviews with 19 women which included photovoice; analysis of online forum threads , with 480 unique posters and 950 comments; and a national survey that included: 180 trans women, 1249 cis-gender heterosexual women and 866 cisgender lesbian, bisexual or queer women,) The research was conducted at Western Sydney University, in partnership with The Gender Centre, and funded by ANROWS

All participants described experiencing sexual violence when they were going about their daily lives – in the street, in shops and public toilets, at work or school, on public transport, and when socialising with friends.

“Where it’s safe and you feel safe, you can be yourself. You can dress how you like. But when you go out in public, you have to decide to what degree you want to buck social norms and risk being abused — that’s part of being trans, because most trans women will not be able to fit into all expectations that most of society has” - Fiona

“a person that passes, gets treated a lot better” — Jenny

“It’s my everyday life… so that I can blend in” “...who wants to be stared at? Like, really? So it’s something that I always – I’m so concerned about”. — Rena

A recent large scale survey of trans and gender diverse Australians found that 53.2% had experienced sexual assault compared to 13.3% of the broader Australian population (Callander et al., 2019). There is strong evidence that visibly appearing different heightens the risk of violence for trans women, leading to the conclusion that the threat of violence serves as “gender policing” (Jauk, 2013, p.808).