Transgendered people are the targets of the most vicious and blatant forms of  violence. They are routinely abused by the police and medical professionals,  in addition to being subjected to random street violence and domestic partner abuse. Intimate partners, often appalled to discover the gender transgression, can verbally, psychologically, physically and sexually abuse  the person.

Statistical research for violence towards the transgendered population is still in its infancy. The preliminary data of transgendered and intersexed  individuals gathered by the Gender, Violence and Resource Access Survey found  that 50% of respondents had been raped or assaulted by a romantic partner  (Courvant and Cook-Daniels, 1998). Eyler and Witten (1999) have began a  longitudinal study of violence against the transgendered community, and the  preliminary data clearly show physical and sexual violence perpetrated on  those who express cross-gender behavior. Our trans-phobic bigotry, like  racist violence, allows us to falsely identify the victims of violence as the  provacateurs of violence. As Dallas Denny (1992) says, "Despite the fact that  they are much more often victims of violence than they are perpetrators,  transgendered persons are frequently portrayed in the media as psychotics and criminals." Given the virulent violence against transgendered people by the police this is especially ironic.
Transgendered people are often sexually targeted specifically because of their transgendered status. The sexual perpetrator will stalk them, or attack them, infuriated by their cross-gender behavior. Wilchins (1998), in the video "Transgendered Revolution" says, "Trans people are never killed from 300 yards away with a high-powered rifle; they're always killed up front and personal … People want to see us die … there is a level of almost unhinged deranged violence about gender hate crimes."
Claudia, is an African-American, male-to-female transsexual woman who was sexually molested before her transition by her then wife. When Maria returned home early one evening and discovered Claudia dressed in female clothes, she flew into a rage.  She began beating Claudia, cursing and calling her sexually abusive names.  Claudia was ashamed to have been caught, and passively accepted this behavior.  This infuriated Maria even more, who began sexually molesting Claudia, while degrading both her feminine appearance, and her masculine body. Maria raped Claudia and then left the marriage.

Terence, is a female-to-male transgendered person of Korean descent. He has lived most of his life as a butch/tomboy identified lesbian, until he began to address his gender dysphoria. He began to transition, identifying as a "bi-gendered" person -- neither male nor female, both male and female.  His lesbian partner was resistant to this transition initially, but became increasingly more supportive over time. Terence began taking testosterone injections and his body began to masculinize, however he was not interested in pursuing genital surgery. Terence was walking home from work late one evening, when he was accosted by a group of young hoodlums. Unsure at first "what" Terence was they began to tease him, first as a small guy, but then slowly they began to suspect he wasn't really a "guy." The taunts increased to a racist verbal assault, with increasing hostility at "the woman who was pretending to be a real guy." Terence was beaten and repeatedly raped by these boys, both vaginally and anally. He refused to report the crime or to receive medical help, afraid that the police and medical system would just further abuse him.