Overview
Property crimes include a wide variety of crimes and violations, such as burglary, theft, vandalism, and arson. They involve the destruction or theft of property, “without the use or threat of force against the victim.[i]”
Trans Specific Dynamics
Sometimes, trans and nonbinary people may experience targeted crime due to their identity: for example, destroying or defacing someone’s property with slurs or setting fire to a business that displays a pride flag. Property crimes may overlap with other forms of anti-trans violence and crimes, such as bullying, intimate partner violence, or hate violence.
As with many other experiences with crime, trans and nonbinary survivors may be hesitant to report a crime to law enforcement out of fear of being mistreated or discriminated against. However, since property crimes are sometimes less personal than overt hate-based violence, trans victims may be more willing to seek help for these types of crimes than others.
When crimes are unrelated to a person’s trans identity, victims may want to keep their trans identity private or separate from legal proceedings. This may or may not be possible depending on local legislation. It is important to talk to the person involved about what information they want to share with others.
Key Tips for Service Providers
- Understand how property crimes may overlap with other forms of crime that trans and nonbinary people face.
- Acknowledge that property crimes can be part of a larger pattern of anti-trans attitudes and behavior in our culture, leading to disproportionate impacts on trans communities.
- Talk with survivors about how their sense of safety may be impacted by experiencing property crimes.
- Understand that trans and nonbinary survivors may be uncomfortable or unwilling to seek support from law enforcement because they expect to be mistreated or discriminated against.
- Discuss what information a survivor wants to share with others as they may want to keep their trans identity or other details private.
- Develop safety plans with survivors and ask about what kinds of support they need.
Case Examples
Ali is a nonbinary person who uses they/them and he/him pronouns and owns a hair salon on a busy street that does not have frequent break-ins. Recently, their property was vandalized; windows were broken, and anti-trans slurs were spray-painted on the building. Ali thinks this is because of their public advocacy as an LGBT-owned business online, along with the trans flag they make visible in the window so that trans and nonbinary customers know they are welcome.
Ali decides that he needs to file a police report in order to have documentation for an insurance claim. They feel apprehensive about going into the police station, given the anti-trans nature of the crime. In order to feel safer, they bring a friend and dress in a more gender-conforming way.
Ali worries about an event like this happening again, and that the communities they serve will feel unsafe coming to their business. They turn to community members to come up with strategies to help increase safety for the hair salon, customers, and neighboring businesses.
Discussion questions:
- What are the individual and community impacts of this anti-LGBT property crime?
- What needs might this survivor have that are unmet?
- Outside of seeking support from law enforcement, how could Ali work with their community to find justice?
- What strategies could Ali use to feel safer and help their customers feel safer?
- In your unique role, how might you advocate for this survivor?
Statistics
According to 2017 and 2018 data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, “Households that had a transgender person had higher rates of property victimization (214.1 per 1000 households) than households with only cisgender people (108 per 1000 households.”[ii]
[i] National Institute of Justice. (2024). Property Crimes. In National Institute of Justice. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/crime/property-crimes
[ii] Flores AR, Meyer IH, Langton L, Herman JL. Gender Identity Disparities in Criminal Victimization: National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017-2018. Am J Public Health. 2021 Apr;111(4):726-729. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306099. Epub 2021 Feb 18. PMID: 33600251; PMCID: PMC7958056. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7958056/