According to Alari News, four Kuwaiti transgender people in Salmiya mall attracted the attention of the mall customers, particularly women, who noticed their feminine mannerisms but suspected they were men. The customers reported the group to the local police who promptly arrived and were led to the group who were in a women’s clothes shop. The police waited until they left the shop and asked for their IDs which disclosed their gender as men. A “security soruce” said that the police proceeded to arrest and took them to the “Ethical Investigation Department” to take against them criminal proceedings. GME has noticed that Kuwaiti media has been reporting on these incidents lately (probably as the media is much freer than in other GCC countries). Such an incident highlights the daily transphobia transgender people can and do face in Gulf.
Kuwaiti LGBT activists have been complaining this is a common recurrence in Kuwait, especially over the past four years. The amount reported in the rather transphobic Kuwaiti media dwarfs in comparison to the unreported cases of harassment and/or arrest of transgender people, according to the activists.
For the source
http://alraimedia.com/Alrai/Article.aspx?id=281106&date=12062011
أحيل 4 «نواعم» على إدارة مكافحة الآداب اثر ضبطهم في منطقة السالمية بالزي النسائي.
النواعم الاربعة والذين كانوا يرتدون الزي النسائي ويتجولون في احد المجمعات التجارية في منطقة السالمية اشتبه فيهم بعض مرتادي السوق، وخاصة النساء اللاتي لاحظن ان حركاتهم كانت تفتعل الانوثة، فأبلغوا عمليات وزارة الداخلية، لينتقل الى الموقع رجال دوريات اسناد حولي، وبمجرد وصولهم الى الموقع واتصالهم على احد المبلغين ارشدهم الى «النواعم» في أحد محال الألبسة النسائية في المجمع التجاري، وانتظرهم رجال الأمن حتى خرجوا، وتم طلب هوياتهم، حيث اتضح لرجال الأمن انهم شبان متشبهون بالنساء. وافاد مصدر امني ان «رجال الدوريات ألقوا القبض عليهم واقتاداوهم الى الادارة العامة للمباحث الجنائية، وتم تسليمهم الى ادارة مباحث الاداب، وجارٍ اتخاذ مايلزم بحقهم».
أحيل 4 «نواعم» على إدارة مكافحة الآداب اثر ضبطهم في منطقة السالمية بالزي النسائي.
النواعم الاربعة والذين كانوا يرتدون الزي النسائي ويتجولون في احد المجمعات التجارية في منطقة السالمية اشتبه فيهم بعض مرتادي السوق، وخاصة النساء اللاتي لاحظن ان حركاتهم كانت تفتعل الانوثة، فأبلغوا عمليات وزارة الداخلية، لينتقل الى الموقع رجال دوريات اسناد حولي، وبمجرد وصولهم الى الموقع واتصالهم على احد المبلغين ارشدهم الى «النواعم» في أحد محال الألبسة النسائية في المجمع التجاري، وانتظرهم رجال الأمن حتى خرجوا، وتم طلب هوياتهم، حيث اتضح لرجال الأمن انهم شبان متشبهون بالنساء. وافاد مصدر امني ان «رجال الدوريات ألقوا القبض عليهم واقتاداوهم الى الادارة العامة للمباحث الجنائية، وتم تسليمهم الى ادارة مباحث الاداب، وجارٍ اتخاذ مايلزم بحقهم».
| http://alraimedia.com/Alrai/Article.aspx?id=281106&date=12062011 |
New Human Rights Watch report highlights abuse against Kuwait transgender people since 2007
Kuwaiti police have been torturing and sexually abusing transgender women continually since 2007, claims a report released by Human Rights Watch yesterday.
The most recent case of police violence was reported on 7 January, where three transgender women were brutally detained. Gay Middle East has also been reporting on this continual abuse and the rise of transphobia in general throughout Kuwait following the introduction of a discriminatory law in 2007 (amendment to article 198) that arbitrarily criminalizes ‘imitating the opposite sex’ in Kuwait.
Following the introduction of the amendment to article 198 of the Kuwaiti Penal Code police have been given a free hand to ‘determine’ whether a person’s appearance constitutes ‘imitating the opposite sex’ without any specific criteria being laid down for the offense.
These reports, by Human Rights Watch and Gay Middle East, reveal how transgender women (individuals born male but identify as female) suffer daily persecution, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse both at the hands of the police and the public at large.
Speaking with Gay Middle East, a transgender Kuwaiti activist pleaded: 'The situation in Kuwait is horrible for us, just intolerable. There are at least 13 transgender women in jail right now.’
She said her friends have been abused physically, emotionally and at times sexually. She also noted that blackmail for sex and money was commonplace. In addition she stated that Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister of Kuwait, was approached by human rights activists and when he was shown a list of transgender prisoners he claimed they were arrested for ‘other offences’ and denied the whole issue. Attempts to interview the prisoners were also denied by the Kuwaiti authorities.
Human Rights Watch documented that transgender individuals were being arrested even when they were wearing male clothes, only later to be forced by police to dress in women’s clothing, who claimed that they arrested them in that attire.
In some cases documented by Human Rights Watch, transgender women said police arrested them because they had a ‘soft voice’ or ‘smooth skin’.
Despite an official recognition of gender identity disorder (GID) by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health as a legitimate medical condition, the law criminalising ‘imitating the opposite sex’ makes no exception for people who have been diagnosed with GID. In fact there have been cases where papers have been presented to the police and were ignored.
Gay Middle East has called on the government of Kuwait to immediately start proceedings to repeal amendment to article 198 criminalising ‘imitating the opposite sex’. They want the government to halt the arrests and harassment of transgender individuals and free all individuals detained by the police. They are also calling for an investigation into the alleged police brutality and protect transgender individuals.
Shamil, GME UAE Editor, 9.5.11 (GMEUAE on Twitter)
Al-Watan published last week (2.5.11) a trasnphobic article under the title: 'Transgenders create havoc in a ladies salon". Apparently two transgenders who entered a ladies salon to have a professional make-up were not welcomed among the customers, who screamed and shouted at them. As soon as the lady owner of the salon realised their sexual identity she ordered them to leave the premises immediately. Upon insisting that all they want is a professional make-up for their night out and are willing to pay any price, the lady owner did not comply with their request and informed the police. Realising the danger and hostility, the transgenders ran for their lives before the police arrived at the premises.
Apparently the police filed in their record of the incident at the Andalusia police station (area in Kuwait city).
The manner in which Al-Watan wrote the article was transphobic, in that that it stressed that the transgender "caused or provoked the responses" rather than being provoked by some of the customers.
The comments that were left by readers were mostly extremely transphobic and homophobic, some calling to kill transgender people. For example:
"she should have told them to sit while they serve them & tell the other ladies to lock the door from outside so they can't run and the police would've caught them! May God punish these transgenders and the diseases they bring to us, all they bring is God's wrath....""was everyone blind except the salon ladies? how did they let them enter the place, were the security guards blind or something?""If I were her I would have slashed their bodies through their stomachs and finish by giving them the middle finger"
If anything it was the transphobia of the clients, owner, and Al-Watan that provokes such reactions rather than the transgender who simply wanted to be treated like any other client and all they got is abuse and threats.
GME has noticed that Kuwaiti media has been reporting on these incidents lately (probably as the media is much freer than in other GCC countries). Such an incident highlights the daily transphobia transgender people can and do face in Gulf.
‘They hunt us down for fun’ – Police accused of transgender torture, sexual assault
KUWAIT: Nadim Houry, talking at a HRW press conference yesterday held at Le Royal Hotel. Sitting beside him is Rasha Moumneh.—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat
KUWAIT: Arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and sexual assaults on transgender persons have increased in Kuwait during the last four years, says the Human Rights Watch (HRW). Transgender ‘women’ are individuals who are born male but identify themselves as female. “They hunt us down for fun” was the title of a HRW report on the issue of transgender, launched at the Le Royal Hotel yesterday.
Nadim Houry, HRW Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, slammed authorities for using Article 198 of the amended 2007 law to arrest, abuse and persecute a transgender. The 63-page report bears documents and testimonies by transgender women victimized by Kuwaiti police since 2008.
“The law has been a huge enabling factor to arrest and abuse members of the transgender. It is like giving a green light to authorities, not only to police but even members of society, to arrest and torture transgender persons and use force and impunity against them.”
According to Houry, the frequency of torture and abuses against the transgendered has definitely increased to a tremendous level in the past four years.
“Just before amending the law, we did not see such a huge number of abuses against transgender,” he added. HRW slammed Kuwaiti police for torturing and sexually abusing transgender women and called on the Gulf state to hold officers accountable.
“Just before amending the law, we did not see such a huge number of abuses against transgender,” he added. HRW slammed Kuwaiti police for torturing and sexually abusing transgender women and called on the Gulf state to hold officers accountable.
“Our key recommendations are clear, we want the authorities here to investigate the torture, sexual assault and ill-treatment of detainees and prosecute those responsible in accordance with the law,” Al-Houry mentioned citing the content of the report.
“We want Kuwait to ensure that until its repeal (of amended 2007 law) the law is not applied to anyone who has been diagnosed with gender identity disorder,” the report added. Rasha Moumneh, HRW researcher, read out summary reports of about 40 transgender women who were arrested, harassed and abused by Kuwaiti police.
Transgender women reported that sexual assault they endured at the hands of policemen includes touching, groping, rape and blackmailing them into non-consensual sex by threatening to arrest them if they did not comply.
Transgender women have also reported degrading and humiliating treatment by police, which includes being forced to strip and parade around a police station, being forced to dance for officers, sexual humiliation and verbal intimidation. According to Moumneh, a common complaint among transgender women is police blackmail for sex under threat of arrest. One of the testimonies read was the case of Rima, 27, who admitted to virtually being a sex slave during college days.
“In October 2009 I passed a checkpoint right outside my university gate. I got scared of course and turned back, but the policeman got suspicious. I stayed on campus for five hours until I was sure that the checkpoint moved. The next day I saw the same police officer. When I was walking towards my car, he stopped me and asked for my ID. I gave it to him, and immediately the sexual harassment started. He forced me to take off my top so he could see my breast, right in the middle of the parking lot. When I told him he had no right to treat me that way, he said “either you take my number and meet me for sex or I will take you to prison.” To avoid arrest and torture, Rima accepted the offer from the police officer and was enslaved for the rest of college, the testimony says.
Transgender women reported being arrested even when they were wearing male clothing and then later being forced by police to dress in women’s clothing. In some cases documented by Human Rights Watch, transgender women said police arrested them because they had a “soft voice” or “smooth skin.” Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East Director, noted in a statement that “No one-regardless of his or her gender identity-deserves to be arrested on the basis of a vague, arbitrary law and then abused and tortured by police.”
“The Kuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groups who face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the application of an unfair law,” she said in a statement.
“The Kuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groups who face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the application of an unfair law,” she said in a statement.
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