Title

Beneath the Surface of Gender-Based Violence Against Trans Women

Creator

Ampatzis, Odysseas

Abstract

Globally, almost one in three women (30%) aged 15-49 years have reported to experiencing violence in their lifetime (Sardinha et al., 2024). In an interview with George Yancy, Judith Butler emphasizes that gender-based violence (GBV) seeks to secure the class of women as dispensable, defining their very existence as something decided by men, as a masculine prerogative (2016). Considering that, compiled statistics of GBV against women often exclude trans women. In 2023, forty-six-year-old Anna Ivankova was murdered inside her apartment in Athens. As her body was identified by the authorities, news outlets reported that “a man of Cuban descent had been found murdered in St. Panteleimon” (Hansford, 2023). Anna’s murder is the only reported case of murder of a trans woman in Greece, in which hate was flagged as a motive by the media. This lack of reported cases of anti-trans violence in Greece shows that such incidents are either totally dismissed, or that the death of trans women led to their nonconsensual detransitioning. In 2024, two queer individuals were physically and verbally harassed in Thessaloniki, reporting that more than a hundred people attacked them. Working towards highlighting the factors that have been fueling GBV against trans women, this paper will utilize thematic classifications that revolve around the disciplines of gender, sociology, and legal studies. This interdisciplinary approach of understanding the basis of GBV against trans women is critical, in order to point out that GBV against trans women can only be studied through the lens of intersectionality, that bases discrimination on the intersection of different grounds of distinction.

Keywords

gender-based violence

transphobia

intersectionality

trans-misogyny

Subject

interdisciplinary

Date Available

May 28, 2026

Type

PowerPoint Presentation

Course

HEL 2602 Honors Thesis II

Course Offering Term

Fall semester 2025

Instructor

Chioni-Chotouman, Chara

Session

Honors Creative Projects

Location

Student Lounge

Event

Year 2026 | 10th Annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium