Report on the violence against lesbians and transgender men in Kyrgystan.

Violence against women and girls in families is generally high in Kyrgyzstan. Labrys' research found that many lesbians and transgender men's experiences of domestic violence begin as children in their natal home. However in adolescence, a girl's refusal to conform to cultural understandings of sexuality and "femininity" becomes a force and fact behind the kinds of abuse that she may suffer. Nurbek, a Labrys advocate, comments, "Most of our cases are about domestic violence." Moreover, once adults, lesbians and transgender men may have no choice but to marry, becoming vulnerable to the domestic violence that is too often a part of married life in Kyrgyzstan-particularly vulnerable if a woman's husband questions her "femininity."

In the publication you can read some painful and poignant testimonies of lesbians and transgender men who have suffered physical and psycological violence following the discory by parents and relatives of their homosexuality.

To read the full report, click on the link below.
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/81021/section/3