A 19-year-old transgender woman, Chiara, took her own life in her home in Napoli, while the mother was not at home.
This was announced by the Gay Center of Rome, whose toll-free number against homotransphobia the young woman had turned to at the age of 17 to tell of the violence, bullying and marginalization she had been suffering for a long time for having decided to express her female identity.
After the complaint, which Gay Help Line helped her to file through Oscad (the Inter-force Observatory of the Ministry of the Interior, against discriminatory acts), Chiara found welcome in a community and the support of LGBT+ associations.
“Yet the road for those who report is uphill, especially for minors: the lack of protection protocols and immediate removal from the perpetrators of violence, the long and exhausting path of justice that pushes young victims to justify themselves, the lack of communities for minors that welcome trans girls and boys on the basis of their gender identity and not their sex, the risk of being victimized by operators unprepared to welcome identities without prejudice.
Chiara had to and knew how to deal with all this. She had been through it. But she didn't make it,” says Gay Center. “It is essential and urgent to find structural solutions to stop violence, training educational and social-health personnel who are aware and ready to support the physical, psychological and social development of LGBT+ kids, as their right,” underlines Alessandra Rossi, head of Gay Help Line of Gay Center.
“I followed Chiara almost from the beginning until a few months ago, and I join my condolences to those of the association, and of her loved ones, and in her memory we will work to welcome more and more girls and boys like her who are marginalized by society and/or families”, assures Sonia Minnozzi, head of the 'Refuge Lgbt' family home of Gay Center
Article published on 27 October 2022 - 13:49
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