Trans/nonbinary people experience higher rates of many forms of violence than cisgender people. These disparities exist across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood and include sexual violence, intimate partner violence, bullying, harassment, hate crimes, and many other forms of victimization.
Violence may take forms that specifically target a person’s gender identity or gender expression. Some of the unique tactics that might be used against a trans/nonbinary person include:
- Destroying gender-affirming clothing
- Damaging or discarding binders, prosthetics, or gender-affirming items
- Threatening to “out” someone
- Withholding or limiting access to hormones or medical care
- Refusing access to gendered spaces (e.g. shelter, gym)
- Taking or destroying identification documents
Following violence, many trans/nonbinary survivors encounter barriers to finding support and safety. These barriers may increase the long-term impact of the violence by delaying support, limiting options, or causing additional trauma.
Why do trans/nonbinary people experience more violence?
There is nothing wrong with being trans/nonbinary. No one deserves to experience abuse or victimization. Higher rates of violence reflect social, cultural, and structural conditions that create greater vulnerability and increase perceived opportunities for people who choose to cause harm. Many factors contribute to this disparity.
Oppression
Oppression refers to the way that culture, systems, and institutions value and empower certain groups of people over others. These systems influence laws, institutions, policies, cultural beliefs, and everyday interactions. As a result, marginalized communities often experience greater discrimination, harassment, and bias, and have historically been excluded from equitable access to resources and opportunities.
Today’s inequities are rooted in historical systems of exclusion and discrimination. Even when discriminatory laws or policies that allowed for oppression in the past no longer exist, harmful beliefs and power dynamics continue to prevent trans and nonbinary people from accessing resources and care.
Oppression is linked to violence in several ways.
- Societies with more inequality (social, economic, and other forms) have more interpersonal violence.
- Oppression is itself a form of violence.
- People who cause harm often choose targets based on who they can get away with hurting. Because society values some groups of people less, harm-doers often commit violence against individuals they perceive as having less power, fewer protections, and less support.
- Bias, prejudice, and dehumanization can reduce empathy and increase the likelihood that some individuals will justify or minimize violence against marginalized groups.
- Stable housing, employment, healthcare, transportation, and access to support all contribute to safety. Oppression and systemic barriers can increase vulnerability to violence and reduce options for accessing resources.
Learn more:
- Paying an Unfair Price
- What are the connections between transphobia, racism, and sexual violence?
- Transgender Rights in the United States
Check out the references section for a full reading list.
Anti-trans hate and discrimination
Transgender people and people who are perceived by others as transgender or gender non-conforming are often attacked or harmed because of other people’s feelings about their gender. In recent years, increased anti-trans rhetoric and restrictive legislation has normalized hateful language and violence toward transgender people. In these environments, for some individuals, it may reinforce or legitimize (to them) their hostility and violence towards trans people.
Targeted for being “different”
Transgender people also often face harassment for being perceived as “different” or “unusual.” Violence risk is also shaped by intersectionality—the way multiple identities and social positions interact. Gender identity exists alongside race, ethnicity, disability, immigration status, sexual orientation, poverty, age, and many other actual or perceived identities. These overlapping experiences can create additional barriers and increase exposure to violence for some transgender and nonbinary people.
It is critical to remember that everyone should be able to exist safely in the world as themselves. No one should be blamed for violence done to them.
Some trans and nonbinary people are specifically targeted for aspects of their lives/experiences outside of being transgender, or in addition to being transgender. For example, sex workers are frequently targeted for violence, and experience high rates of sexual and physical assault, robbery, police violence, and other crimes. People who commit violence may perceive sex workers as having fewer protections or believe that crimes against them are less likely to be reported or taken seriously. In particular, trans women disclose very high rates of violence while engaged in sex work. This is where we see the overlap or intersection of identities.
Trans/nonbinary people experience homelessness and unstable housing at disproportionately high rates. Unhoused people are frequently assaulted and robbed, and similarly to those engaged in sex work, report higher rates of police violence.
Lack of resources
Structural inequalities can make people more vulnerable to violence. Because of widespread discrimination and oppression, trans/nonbinary people overall have less access to financial opportunities and less wealth, and less stable housing, employment, and healthcare. Without these resources, trans/nonbinary people are more likely to live in areas with higher rates of crime. People who are homeless often experience more violence and robbery – in part because they have all their possessions with them, and in part because they are “easier” targets, with fewer people looking out for them or following up when violence happens.
Lack of resources can also mean that people are pressured to take or stay at jobs that are exploitative or violent. People working in low-wage, temporary, or cash-based employment face increased risks of wage theft from their employers, violence and harassment from clients and employers, and overall unsafe working conditions.
Polyvictimization
Polyvictimization refers to experiencing multiple different types of violence across one’s lifespan. Rather than experiencing a single traumatic event, many survivors experience repeated victimization in different settings, relationships, or stages of life.
Trans/nonbinary people experience higher rates of violence and higher rates of polyvictimization than cisgender people do. In a 2025 FORGE study, respondents reported experiencing an average of over 5 different forms of violence in their life, and often experienced each of those forms of violence multiple times.[i]
Each time a person experiences violence can contribute to trauma. It may impact someone’s sense of safety in the world, and/or contribute to ongoing mental and physical health disparities.
The effects of violence are cumulative. Multiple victimization experiences can compound trauma, increase physical and mental health concerns, reduce trust in others and institutions, and create more complex service needs. Providers should recognize that survivors may be coping with the impact of many different forms of violence simultaneously.
[i] FORGE. “Trans/Nonbinary Experiences with Stressful Events.” FORGE, 20 May 2024.