01/08/2025 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
In Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, trans women were taken to the police station on grounds of identity checks and were kept waiting for hours in the station courtyard.
Photo: istanbulpride’s X Archive
Trans women living in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district were surrounded by police and taken to the police station on the grounds of identity checks (GBT) on 31 July. For approximately two hours, watchmen prevented trans women from leaving their homes. Police detained around 30 trans women from different parts of Beyoğlu and took them to the station. Held in the station’s courtyard for about an hour, the trans women were not informed of the reason for their detention despite repeatedly asking; they were pressured to turn off their phones.
Trans women in Beyoğlu have been subjected to fines based on the Misdemeanors Law for some time, and their homes are being searched.
We spoke with Yankı, who was taken to the police station yesterday for a GBT check, and trans activist İris Mozalar about what happened. Yankı stated that the names of the women taken to the station were written down one by one:
“They wrote the names of all the trans women and sex workers present on a white piece of paper. We were afraid of being profiled. Our other friends also reacted. But we don’t know what they wrote on that white paper or why they kept it. This procedure is arbitrarily applied to us two or three times a week. Each of us is fined 1,400 TL under the Misdemeanors Law. There is a similar practice in Izmir. Even if you’re not on the street, even if neither the police nor the watchmen see you, they keep issuing the same fine through your ID number. This is profiling.”
Yankı also noted that police recorded videos of the trans women:
“I have video footage on my phone. One officer, without our consent, recorded us on their personal phone while we were leaving the station. Our faces were clearly visible in a group. This was very alarming for us. Many of us have to engage in sex work. We do sex work in unsafe conditions on the streets.”
Trans activist İris Mozalar emphasized that the pressure on trans women in Beyoğlu has intensified:
“Trans women who are walking down the street, going to the market, going home, or sitting near their homes are being heavily harassed and pressured by the police. In addition to this, police keep issuing fines under the Misdemeanors Law to women they see on the streets. Moreover, in recent weeks, raids have been carried out on homes where trans women live, using drones. They’ve entered homes without permission. We’re also seeing that search warrants have been issued for some homes. Many trans women live in various parts of Beyoğlu, but these living spaces are now under heavy attack. Trans women already can’t find housing everywhere; they can’t access education or employment as they wish. Their visibility in public spaces and their use of public spaces are being severely affected. These raids, the fines issued under the Misdemeanors Law, the harassment in the streets, and the identity checks continue.”
Mozalar concluded:
“It is now necessary for the public to see, hear, and react to the rights violations and attacks that trans women are being subjected to. Policies need to be developed in response to this. Every organization, every opposition political party must now recognize this and speak out on the issue. These pressures are increasing, the severity is escalating each time. Therefore, the public also needs to speak out against these pressures and attacks.”
Tags: human rights, trans, lgbti
