Turkey: 24-year-old trans woman stabbed to death in her own home

A 24-year-old trans woman was found dead at her home in Turkey yesterday following yet another attack in a long line of transphobic violence in the country.

Dora Özer was found dead by her housemate yesterday evening in Turkey’s Western region of Aydın.

The housemate, Ms Hande, reported that she found Ms Özer after returning home to check on her after not receiving any news as of 6pm.

She reported the incident to the police after she found the body.

Aydın police have launched an investigation into the matter to locate the murderer, starting with an examination of security camera footage.

The attack follows a long of transphobic murders in the country as reported by the Human Rights Watch in 2010. Among these was the killing of Seçil Anne, a sex worker, who was also found dead at her home in Antalya in southwest Turkey.

Last year, the gay fashion designer Barbaros Şansal was also attacked in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

A petition to stem the ‘honour killings’ of LGBT people was released online last year.

While the country is “slowly opening up” about homophobic and transphobic violence, the petition says, “many problems remain”.

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