Risk factors for violence in transgender people: a retrospective study of experiences during adolescence
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Date
2020
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
Description
Background: Transgender people are often victims of multiple types of violence across several areas of life due to society’s marked intolerance of gender nonconformity. Objective: This study seeks to describe experiences of violence in transgender individuals and explore the relationship between different types of violence and specific, high-risk gender incongruence and social rejection factors during adolescence. Method: The sample consisted of 245 transgender adults receiving transgender-related health services at a public specialised clinic in Mexico City. Results: Findings are in line with the evidence in the literature and confirm that transgender people are at a high risk of different types of violence, with psychological violence being the most common, followed by physical and sexual violence. This occurs at an early age and in different contexts, mainly through social experiences with family members and school peers. Experiences of rejection, seeking to be treated as the gender identity and asking to be called by the name selected for gender identity were the most important predictors for all types of violence. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for interventions to prevent violence against transgender youth from an early age to provide safe family and school environments for their healthy development.