Transgender asylum seekers

Transgender asylum seekers are transgender people seeking refuge in another country due to stigmatization or persecution in their home countries. Transgender people oftentimes flee due to dangerous living conditions and discrimination.

Because of their gender non-conformity, transgender asylum seekers face elevated risks to their mental and physical health. Transgender asylum seekers encounter greater challenges in comparison to cisgender asylum seekers those whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth. The challenges transgender asylum seekers face include higher risks of physical and sexual assault, torture, "conversion therapy" practices, and forced isolation. As a result, transgender people face challenges in the asylum process not experienced by others.

As defined in the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee or asylum seeker is any "person owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion ... [or] membership [to] a particular social group [that cannot] avail himself of the protection of that country" which does not include discrimination on the basis of sex. In the US, gender-based discrimination laws are based on the experiences of cisgender women, therefore, transgender migrants are forced to undergo rigid asylum processes that exclude their identities. Additionally, their experiences are not encompassed because the "refugee experience" has been seen through Eurocentric terms due to standardized term and definition of the refugee following World War 2 and it is also a broad category.

For example, asylum claims made by transgender refugees are considered under the basis of persecution because of their involvement in a particular social group in the US. This requirement means that membership to a social group is not enough in order to claim asylum, but that refugees must prove that they have been persecuted because of their social group's standing in order to be granted refuge. Transgender asylum seekers are required to provide "proof of gender transition" which reproduces harmful ideas of gender binaries.

The growing restrictive asylum policies and processes include increased periods of mandatory detention and extended processing times. Due to longer processing times, transgender migrants are forced to remain in detention centers while they wait and experience sexual assault due to facilities separated by gender binaries. As a result, transgender asylum seekers are required to navigate complex legal procedures and experience trauma throughout the process.

These processes, therefore, result in high levels of mental and physical distress as refugees navigate the asylum process.

Transgender persons may have experienced "severe persecution" in the countries they have fled, even where anti-transgender laws do not exist. Regardless of anti-transgender laws, the strict gender norms that exist in many countries, associating masculinity with men and femininity with women, perpetuate the violence faced by transgender refugees. Because transgender people often move away from identifying with their sex assigned at birth, or feel as if their gender is fluid, many transgender refugees face persecution, discrimination, and transphobia in their home countries. The stigmatization and violence faced by this group of refugees can take place in a range of places, including within the home, the workplace, with health care providers, or simply from the general population.

Research shows that transgender individuals experience greater socioeconomic disadvantages, more exposure to traumatic events, and more stressors than cisgender individuals within their home countries. These individuals also often face multiple forms of stigmatization related to their employment, health care access, housing, etc. A document review of asylum applications of Mexican transgender refugees revealed several common themes, focusing on stressors experienced, health consequences of these stressors, and services accessed by transgender asylum seekers. In their place of origin, Mexico, each asylum seeker faced some levels of verbal, physical, and sexual assault, an unstable environment, fear for their safety and security, and economic insecurity.