Police detain trans women, cordon off their street 'to prevent coronavirus spread'

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Police detained nine trans women in İstanbul's Beyoğlu district on Wednesday (December 2) for "prostitution" and "violating coronavirus measures."

Officers told the women that the buildings where sex workers work would be sealed and cordoned off the street. The women lost their homes in the midst of the pandemic.

This was the second similar operation in Bayram Street in a month as 18 trans women were also detained on November 9.

"Until the attorney came, they held these 18 women in a small room. No one thought about corona measures at that time," says trans woman Beyrut Avşar.

"No lie, their language was polite but they still didn't fully enforce our rights. Yesterday, we experienced this for the second time. Their attitude was not kind yesterday.

"They said they took such action by the order of the Governor's Office of İstanbul. They took [us] to the Taksim Police Station. They asked us, 'What do you do?' 'How do you earn a living'?"

Levent Pişkin, an attorney of the women, reminded that sex work is not a crime in Turkey the detentions were arbitrary.

The women were not officially detained but "taken to the police station to be asked for information," he noted.

On Wednesday night, police officers first pushed two African men into the homes of the trans women and then detained them as if they were negotiating, which was unacceptable, said Pişkin.

As well as leaving the women homeless, the authorities attempted to "erase the social memory of a group," according to the lawyer.

He also recalled a police chief nicknamed "Süleyman the Water Hose," who was known for maltreatment against trans women in the 1990s, saying that the authorities have the same mentality today.

"Is the street protected now?"

Avşar also said that they were left homeless although there was no criminal situation.

"They close our street on the excuse of the corona. They broke the doors, took us from our homes," she said. "They threw us into the street, saying, 'It's because of the corona.' They didn't give us one hour to take our belongings.

"So, you remove the corona from the building, protect it but don't think about protecting our health and throw us into the street. Are the building and the street cleaned when no one enters?

"We have taken shelter in our friends' homes, our numbers have increased in small homes."

She said she was "afraid" for their future as there is so much pressure on them. "All of our lives are in danger. We have already been at risk as all trans women but after these incidents, we have become more insecure."

Cansu, another trans woman from Bayram Street, also said their living conditions have become more difficult and asked, "Is it a pandemic measure to leave us homeless?" (EMK/VK)