From the lovely ucqueen
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, September 22, 2005
POLICE MISTREATMENT AND ABUSE WIDESPREAD IN LESBIAN, GAY,
BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE
----
New Amnesty International Study Finds LGBT People of Color and Youth
Most Likely to Suffer; Calls on Police to Improve Training and
Accountability
"The police are not here to serve; they are here to get served…every
night I'm taken into an alley and given the choice between having
sex or going to jail."
-- Amnesty International interview with a Native American
transgender woman, Los Angeles
(New York) - In the most comprehensive report of its kind to date,
Amnesty International (AI) reveals that police mistreatment and
abuse of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are
widespread nationwide and go largely unchecked due to underreporting
and unclear, under-enforced or non-existent policies and procedures.
"Across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
endure the injustices of discrimination, entrapment and verbal abuse
as well as brutal beatings and sexual assault at the hands of those
responsible for protecting them - the police," said Dr. William F.
Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA
(AIUSA). "Some, including transgender individuals, people of color
and the young suffer disproportionately, especially when poverty
leaves them vulnerable to homelessness and exploitation and less
likely to draw public outcry or official scrutiny. It is a sorry
state of affairs when the police misuse their power to inflict
suffering rather than prevent it."
In its 150-plus page report, Stonewalled: police abuse and
misconduct against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in
the United States, AI focuses on four cities - Chicago, Los Angeles,
New York and San Antonio - surveys the 50 largest police departments
in the country, as well as Washington, D.C., about LGBT policies and
practices, and includes information from several hundred interviews
and testimonies. AI's findings strongly indicate that there is a
heightened pattern of misconduct and abuse of transgender
individuals and all LGBT people of color, young people, immigrants,
the homeless and sex workers by police. At times, the mere
perception that someone is gay or lesbian provokes physical or
verbal attacks.
The mistreatment and abuse documented in the report includes
targeted and discriminatory enforcement of statutes against LGBT
people, including so-called "quality of life" and morals
regulations; profiling, particularly of transgender women as sex
workers; verbal abuse; inappropriate pat-down and strip searches;
failure to protect LGBT people in holding cells; inappropriate
response or failure to respond to hate crimes or domestic abuse
calls; sexual harassment and abuse, including rape; and physical
abuse that at times amounts to torture and ill-treatment.
While it is impossible to obtain accurate statistics, the AI study
showed that transgender people, particularly women and the young,
suffer disproportionately. A large percentage of transgender people
reportedly are unemployed or underemployed, leaving the population
more vulnerable to homelessness or situations that leave them
exposed to police scrutiny and abuse. Meanwhile, 72 percent of
police departments responding to AI's survey said they had no
specific policy regarding interaction with transgender people.
AI welcomed the initiative taken by several police departments to
improve their practices. The West Hollywood Station of the Los
Angeles Sheriff's Department has a Gay and Lesbian Conference
Committee that is open to the public and allows police to stay in
touch with community concerns. The City of West Hollywood also
established a Transgender Task Force that addresses policing issues.
In Washington, D.C., the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) is
staffed by four full-time officers and ten volunteers, and the head
of the unit, Sgt. Brett Parson, reports directly to the police
chief. GLLU is also involved with training efforts within the police
department.
However, the AI report demonstrates that despite initiatives such as
these, police departments nationwide need to do more to protect LGBT
people - something that was reflected in responses to the AI survey
of police policies and practices with regard to LGBT people. Of the
29 departments that responded to the survey, only 31 percent
instruct their officers on how to strip search a transgender
individual; two thirds (66%) of police departments reported
providing training on hate crimes against LGBT individuals; and
while most departments provide training regarding sexual assault
(86%), about half (52%) do not include LGBT-specific issues.
Under international law, everyone, regardless of sexual orientation
or gender identity or expression, is guaranteed the fullest
enjoyment of his or her civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights. The United States is party to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the principal international
treaty that lays out fundamental rights such as freedom from
arbitrary arrest and detention and torture, cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, as well as the Convention Against Torture and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination.
Contact:
Wende Gozan at 212/633-4247
or Ben Somberg at 212/633-4268
Thursday, September 22, 2005
POLICE MISTREATMENT AND ABUSE WIDESPREAD IN LESBIAN, GAY,
BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE
----
New Amnesty International Study Finds LGBT People of Color and Youth
Most Likely to Suffer; Calls on Police to Improve Training and
Accountability
"The police are not here to serve; they are here to get served…every
night I'm taken into an alley and given the choice between having
sex or going to jail."
-- Amnesty International interview with a Native American
transgender woman, Los Angeles
(New York) - In the most comprehensive report of its kind to date,
Amnesty International (AI) reveals that police mistreatment and
abuse of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are
widespread nationwide and go largely unchecked due to underreporting
and unclear, under-enforced or non-existent policies and procedures.
"Across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
endure the injustices of discrimination, entrapment and verbal abuse
as well as brutal beatings and sexual assault at the hands of those
responsible for protecting them - the police," said Dr. William F.
Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA
(AIUSA). "Some, including transgender individuals, people of color
and the young suffer disproportionately, especially when poverty
leaves them vulnerable to homelessness and exploitation and less
likely to draw public outcry or official scrutiny. It is a sorry
state of affairs when the police misuse their power to inflict
suffering rather than prevent it."
In its 150-plus page report, Stonewalled: police abuse and
misconduct against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in
the United States, AI focuses on four cities - Chicago, Los Angeles,
New York and San Antonio - surveys the 50 largest police departments
in the country, as well as Washington, D.C., about LGBT policies and
practices, and includes information from several hundred interviews
and testimonies. AI's findings strongly indicate that there is a
heightened pattern of misconduct and abuse of transgender
individuals and all LGBT people of color, young people, immigrants,
the homeless and sex workers by police. At times, the mere
perception that someone is gay or lesbian provokes physical or
verbal attacks.
The mistreatment and abuse documented in the report includes
targeted and discriminatory enforcement of statutes against LGBT
people, including so-called "quality of life" and morals
regulations; profiling, particularly of transgender women as sex
workers; verbal abuse; inappropriate pat-down and strip searches;
failure to protect LGBT people in holding cells; inappropriate
response or failure to respond to hate crimes or domestic abuse
calls; sexual harassment and abuse, including rape; and physical
abuse that at times amounts to torture and ill-treatment.
While it is impossible to obtain accurate statistics, the AI study
showed that transgender people, particularly women and the young,
suffer disproportionately. A large percentage of transgender people
reportedly are unemployed or underemployed, leaving the population
more vulnerable to homelessness or situations that leave them
exposed to police scrutiny and abuse. Meanwhile, 72 percent of
police departments responding to AI's survey said they had no
specific policy regarding interaction with transgender people.
AI welcomed the initiative taken by several police departments to
improve their practices. The West Hollywood Station of the Los
Angeles Sheriff's Department has a Gay and Lesbian Conference
Committee that is open to the public and allows police to stay in
touch with community concerns. The City of West Hollywood also
established a Transgender Task Force that addresses policing issues.
In Washington, D.C., the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) is
staffed by four full-time officers and ten volunteers, and the head
of the unit, Sgt. Brett Parson, reports directly to the police
chief. GLLU is also involved with training efforts within the police
department.
However, the AI report demonstrates that despite initiatives such as
these, police departments nationwide need to do more to protect LGBT
people - something that was reflected in responses to the AI survey
of police policies and practices with regard to LGBT people. Of the
29 departments that responded to the survey, only 31 percent
instruct their officers on how to strip search a transgender
individual; two thirds (66%) of police departments reported
providing training on hate crimes against LGBT individuals; and
while most departments provide training regarding sexual assault
(86%), about half (52%) do not include LGBT-specific issues.
Under international law, everyone, regardless of sexual orientation
or gender identity or expression, is guaranteed the fullest
enjoyment of his or her civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights. The United States is party to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the principal international
treaty that lays out fundamental rights such as freedom from
arbitrary arrest and detention and torture, cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, as well as the Convention Against Torture and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination.
Contact:
Wende Gozan at 212/633-4247
or Ben Somberg at 212/633-4268