Trans

Olivia Colman, Jameela Jamil and Paloma Faith lead feminists forcefully condemning violence against trans women

Nov 25 2020
Written by Vic Parsons

Olivia Colman condemns violence against trans women in open letter

Olivia Colman, Jameela Jamil and Paloma Faith were among those who signed an open letter of solidarity with trans women. (Getty/Steve Granitz/WireImage/Gareth Cattermole/Amanda Edwards)

Olivia Colman, Jameela Jamil and Paloma Faith have condemned “violence and hostility” against trans women on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls (25 November).

The stars are among a group of feminists who have made it clear, in an open letter of solidarity, that those who are “hostile, crude or mocking” towards trans women “absolutely do not speak for us”.

“Our firm belief is that an end to violence against women and girls will only be possible with the full might of the sisterhood working together – and so our feminism is against any and all violence, against any and all women,” the open letter says.

“To our trans sisters on this day: we are with you.”

Author Reni Eddo-Lodge, Labour MPs Zarah Sultana and Nadia Whittome, Derry Girls actress Nicola Coughlan and political journalist Ash Sarkar are also signatories.

A recent report by the UK’s LGBT+ anti-violence charity Galop found that eight per cent of trans people have been physically assaulted in the last year, compared to an estimated 1.9 per cent of people within the general population.

Sixteen per cent of trans women have experienced domestic violence in the last year alongside 7.5 per cent of cisgender women.

The open letter says: “We are feminists and we write, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, to express our solidarity with trans women, particularly trans women of colour, who experience violence and hostility so frequently it is almost a way of life.

“Trans women are more likely to be murdered, more likely to be victims of violent attacks in their own homes, and more likely to be homeless, again increasing the risk of violence, than their cis sisters.

“Those who use hostile, crude or mocking language towards trans women, demeaning their bodies, and refusing to accept that they are who they say they are, contribute to the culture which creates those discriminatory disparities, a culture which de-humanises trans women and girls thereby legitimising prejudice and violence against them.

“Those people, many of them in high places of fame, wealth and power, absolutely do not speak for us.”