Hande Kader's Name Should Not Be Forgotten

By Isabelle Garreaud on August 27, 2016

I am someone who is always following the news and am the first one to tell people about what is happening in the world. Yet, when my friend sent me a link to an article about a trans activist who was brutally raped and burned to death in Turkey, I was shocked that I didn’t hear about it, especially since it happened a week ago. I was angered at the fact that the main news outlets didn’t talk very much about Hande Kader’s death, nor is there a lot of talk about the protests that ensued afterward.

There have been a lot of hate crimes toward LGTBQ people this year and enough is enough. We shouldn’t have to wait for a mass killing in order to realize we need to do something. The Orlando nightclub attack was heartbreaking and I was so happy to hear about all the support the victims got, but what about the individuals who get raped, murdered, beaten because of the way they live their life every day? So many gay, lesbian and transgendered people live in fear because of society’s hate towards them.

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Hande Kader was only 22 years old when her barely recognizable body was found in a forest in Istanbul on Aug. 12, after having been missing for days. The last time her friends saw her, she was entering the car of a client in late July. Kader was a sex worker, which unfortunately is the only job trans people feel they can do, and an activist for LGTBQ rights that should be remembered for her fight to bring justice to people like her.

According to a transgender Europe report taken this year, Turkey has the highest murder rate of trans people and since 2008, there has been a total of 43, which is again the highest in Europe. Yet, there is no safe haven for them. How many more innocent people have to die before justice is finally served? Kader wanted the world to change so that anyone could walk down the streets, being who they want to be, without receiving hate.

Hande took part in so many protests, usually on the front lines, and in last year’s Gay Pride Parade in Istanbul, she had to be escorted by the police after she was shot at with water cannons and rubber pellets by security forces. Is that the way a pride parade should end? Homosexuality is legal in Turkey, but there are so much hate crimes and discrimination against them that it doesn’t even matter.

This past Sunday, there was a march from the Tünel to Galatasaray asking for Justice for Kader’s murder. The protesters told people to “raise their voice” against LGBTQ hate crimes, which is exactly what the activist was advocating. The problem is they need people to actually hear them.

In a protest one time, Kader spoke to a journalist and said, “You take pictures but you do not publish them. No one is hearing our voices.”  

This is exactly one of the problems. The U.S. is too busy dealing with telling people where they can pee while all over the world, people are getting killed over their identity.

Hande’s friend, Davut Dengiler, touched base on that when he stated, “She would go crazy when trans individuals were killed. She’d be so sad … She had been stabbed and beaten before. This didn’t happen only to Hande. It happens to all of them.” 

Everyone should be this emotional because no one deserves to die this way. Violence against trans people is telling us that being transexual is worse than rape and murder. I don’t want to live in a world where that is true.

There has been an outpour of support on social media under the hashtag #HandeKadereSesVer and people are spreading the name Hande Kader around so she does not die in vain.

Twitter/flowerdaniel

 

Twitter/Manjureijmer

 

Twitter/@arianatorempire

 

Twitter/@RitaLove70

While it is great that thousands of people are saying her name, there needs to be more done than a couple of meaningful tweets. Something needs to be done so we don’t need to fear for our friends and family’s lives.

Kemal Ordek, the president of Red Umbrella Association, speaks the sad truth when she states, “Even now, my phone is at the highest ringtone when I sleep at night. I wait for news: someone will be stabbed, someone beaten and I’ll get called and I’ll have to go there immediately. This is a never-ending mourning and state of trauma.” 

This has to stop. No more violence.

If anything, you can spread Hande Kader’s name and legacy. She and the others who have died unjustly deserve to have people knowing their names. In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside.” 

Until people learn to accept people for what identity they want to be, we will continue to repeat Hande Kader’s name and all those who fought for equality.

Pixabay.com

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