Self/Educational. Collaborative. Intersectional.
Trans/form is envisioned as an accessible self-educational tool that centers intersectionality while addressing the violence faced by transgender people across axes of (dis)privilege in India and South Asia. Trans/form traces the layers of violence transgender individuals experience, combining voices and stories that reveal how the normalization of small, everyday acts of transphobia builds into patterns of degradation and, in the most severe cases, assault.
OUR STORY: THE GAP
Initiatives emphasising intersectionality in violence faced by the trans community do not exist, thus largely invisibilizing distinctive atrocities various identity groups face on account of their gender identity as well as religion, sexuality, ability, caste, occupation, ethnicity and so on. The knowledge available in these spheres is generally scattered and inaccessible to the majority, which in turn fuels misinformation leading to stigmatization and superficial stereotyping. Moreover, knowledge and evidence that has been historically created by Trans people are often not taken seriously, and thus not used in research and policy work that impacts our lives.
Transform was first conceptualised as a ‘trans version’ of the rape culture pyramid, which is popularly used as a tool to understand how ‘small acts’ of violence that go unchecked often lead to ‘big acts’ of violence that are not taken seriously. As we continued building the tool, the shape of the pyramid did not serve the purpose we had in mind: to show that violence is cyclical, and that understanding the structural nature of violence is the only way to tackle it. We also did not want the information on Transform to be reductive to a few words, phrases and communities- so we let it get big to encompass as many people as possible in all our communities. We then took it to our first set of reviewers to tell us what they thought about the project and its scope.
OUR CONTRIBUTION: TRANS/FORM
Transform seeks to bridge this gap by serving as an inclusionary collaborative platform helping dismantle and educate on trans experiences as narrated and reviewed by Trans people. The scope of Transform makes it adaptable in educational institutes; a self-educational resource wherein users of all ages and abilities can filter and control the content they interact with about trans identities and trans persons’ lived experiences of violence, marginalization, and transmisogyny; and public cyberspace encouraging interdisciplinary cross-cultural learning and advocacy. As a design-intensive microsite complete with a unique trigger warning and consent tools that bring control into the hands of each user, it will be a one-of-a-kind accessible tool advocating for better policy, and a progressive movement creating spaces for the trans community in a disproportionately violent world.
MEET US! (SORT OF)
BE A PART OF TRANS/FORM
With Trans/form, we want to make space for more Trans people to work in trans led/run environments, and we hope to make this an evidence collection mechanism that we can use to advocate for ourselves. There are many ways to contribute to the tool; you can add your narrative, links and information to the tool. You can also review the tool when we call for reviewers periodically.
And if you are an ally/friend, you can buy us a Kofi!
Michael Snook, for believing in this project and making us our first product design to be able to start creating this FOR REALS. Sidharth Rath for his constant counsel and support on every detail through many panic calls. Our reviewers, who have trusted in the process and our drive for this project from the beginning, telling us where we are going wrong, where we are going right and where we need to go. Our work is for you. Reviewers who were comfortable with their name appearing on the site: Akira, Aditya Vikram, Ananya V, Ankita Manna, Biraja, Chitra Rawat, Dona, Erin Milne, G, Hana, Janani Vaidya, Jaydeep Choudhury, Mia, Efi M T Gauthier, Shikhar Singhal, Teenasai, Shivrajeshwar Dhondge, Skye Griffin and Wree
