From Gay Star UK: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/20-trans-women-arrested-istanbul080313
On the night before International Women’s Day, the homes of trans women was broken into by police on suspicion of ‘providing space for sex work’
By Joe Morgan
08 March 2013
On the night before International Women’s Day, police officers in Istanbul arrested and harassed 20 transgender women.
Around 4pm yesterday (7 March), police officers broke down their doors with sledgehammers and forced them to go to Beyoglu police station on the basis of ‘providing space’ for sex work.
The majority of the women are allegedly sex workers, and living together for security.
A lawyer from the Social Policies, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association in Turkey (SPoD) criticized the arrest, saying it was not legal.
Rozerine Seda Kip said: ‘The police did not respect the procedures and related policies.
‘The court did give permission for “search” and “right to use force”, but it was not necessary to break their doors with sledgehammers.
‘Police did not show any ID or the court order and did not give any reasoning. They just broke all the doors, and they left.
She continued: ‘Around 20 women were taken to Beyoglu Police Station as victims of sex work.
‘The police even tried to not let lawyers contact them. As the lawyers of SPoD, we experienced physical and verbal violence when we asked to see the court orders and police reports.
Continue reading at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/20-trans-women-arrested-istanbul080313
