Trans-harming care

Although transgender people have received more and more attention in recent years, their experiences in everyday life, including their experiences with the healthcare system remain heavily understudied. Even more so, the experiences of transgender refugees have been overshadowed by the studies reflecting the experiences of lesbian and gay refugees. By means of a multiplecase study this ethnographic research aims at filling that gap. It sheds light on the different experiences of transwomen with transition-related healthcare in the Netherlands. As the 'trans' community in the Netherlands includes many people from South America, the main question is: Against the backdrop of transitionrelated healthcare, how do Latin American and Caribbean transwomen compared to Dutch transwomen experience the healthcare system in the Netherlands? Besides desk research and participant observation, this question is answered through indepth conversations (and much time spent) with transwomen. Criminological concepts such as social harm and social sorting have been applied in innovative ways, leading to new insights into both these criminological perspectives and human rights violations in this field. The author concludes that the ways in which transwomen experience the healthcare system do not differ so much in how care is provided, but rather in the emotional impact thereof. With this study the author hopes to have contributed to an initial step and encouraged further research into this field of study that has been neglected up until now.