Anya Bradford, 25, was reportedly attacked by police officers in Sydney, Australia when she was questioned at a pub. After not being able to produce any ID, Bradford said she was ‘slammed into an ATM’, and tasered twice while being called ‘it’ by officers. She also said she was pepper sprayed ‘from head to toe’ which left her temporarily blinded, and reports hearing one police officer laugh as this happened.
Bradford was arrested and taken into custody for ‘resisting and assaulting police’ but the charges have been dropped and senior constable Mark Follington is facing allegations of faking charges against her. Bradford said she swore at the police officers but committed no other offences. In the court hearing, she was asked if she had exaggerated the violence but denied these claims.
The trans community in Australia are protected from gender-based discrimination by law, however there have been an increase in global accounts of violence against trans people in 2020. The Human Rights Campaign estimates 27 trans people have been killed in the US alone this year, which is equal to the total number murdered in the whole of 2019 – the majority were trans women. It is also possible that some deaths/violence against trans people has gone unreported.
The court hearings for Bradford’s case are due to continue in the upcoming weeks.
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