Trans women are some of the most persecuted members of society. The average life expectancy of a transgender woman is 23 years. Trans women have a 8.25% chance of being murdered, with the chance rising to 12.5% if you are a trans woman of colour. Trans women have a 33.33% chance of being raped, rising to 50% if you are a trans woman of colour. Trans women also face higher incarceration rates - with 21% of trans women being incarcerated and 47% of all black trans people being incarcerated [statistics].

Trans people are attacked by cis people in many different spheres - in the medical sphere, the social sphere, the legal sphere etc. Trans women must act in very rigid ways in order to pass through gatekeeping set up by cis medical practioners. Trans people are attacked in the social sphere through people such as Cathy Brennan outing trans people, displaying their deadname and private information online, as well as constantly having their gender identity questioned by members of the general public. Trans people are also attacked in the legal sphere by being unable to change their name without paying a fee or going through the court system which can be uncomfortable if they must out themselves at that stage. We also face difficult times when it comes to changing our legal sex, often having to have forked out tens of thousands of dollars for surgery in order to be recognized as our gender, legally.

This twitter account is just another of the many ways that trans people can be attacked through social media. While most violence against trans people happens offline, in the case of beatings, rapes & murders - deliberate misgendering and refusal to accept trans women as women and as females is also an act of violence. With trans people suffering mental illness at far higher rates than the rest of the community [this paper suggests 50-60% of trans people suffer from depression, and this stating that more than 50% of trans youth have had at least one suicide attempt before turning 20], it is important to make online spaces safe as well as physical ones.

Trans people should not have to deal with the abuse that this twitter account spews, especially considering that it is run by someone who has been widely documented as abusive to trans people. For the safety of all trans people, especially trans women, this account should be shut down.