Essi Granlund
Age 2613 Jun 2020
Hakunila, Vantaa, Uusimaa (Finland)
Stabbed
TDoR list ref: tgeu/12-Jun-2020/Essi Granlund
Essi was stabbed with a kitchen knife. The police failed to report her killing for over a month, and when they finally did described the attack as "an argument between two men".
A suspect has been arrested.
Police suspect a 30-year-old man killed a [trans woman] born in 1994 with a kitchen knife. The suspected act took place in the [perpetrator's] apartment. Rauno Jämsä, the crime commissioner and leader of the investigation, says that the suspected act took place during the evening or night of June 12.
Police received an alert about the incident at half past three at night. The victim was found dead in the apartment.
According to Jämsä, the people already knew each other. The quarrel between [them] preceded the felony.
Sisarusjärjestömme @transfeminiinit on vahvistanut, että uhri on ollut seksityötä tehnyt, 26-vuotias nuori nainen, jonka juridista sukupuolta ei oltu korjattu Suomen transvastaisen lainsäädännön vuoksi
— Trans ry (@transyhdistys) July 17, 2020
Otamme osaa uhrin läheisten suruun ja vaadimme uhrille oikeutta
We at Trans ry are really worried about the news that has come to light about the murder of a transgender woman. We demand an investigation from the police and an end to the abuse of the victim.
@transfeminiinit has confirmed that the victim was a 26-year-old young woman who had had sex work, whose legal gender had not been corrected due to Finnish anti-transgender legislation
We share in the grief of the victim’s loved ones and demand justice for the victim
Subsequently the organisations Transfeminiinit ry, Trans ry, Trasek ry, Regnbågsankan rf and Pro-tukipiste ry issued a joint statement about her murder condemning the police for their inaction and disrespect towards the victim, whom they named as Essi Granlund.
#RestInPower #RememberingOurDead #MuistaHänenNimensä pic.twitter.com/jFVRwfTxal
— Trans ry (@transyhdistys) July 21, 2020
Sometime during the night between the 12th and the 13th of June a 26-year-old trans woman lost her life as a result of a stabbing at Vantaa, Finland. The victim’s memory was insulted by both the police and the media. The press release put out by the police misgendered the victim and the media, despite having received new information from a number of trans rights organizations that challenged the police narrative, did not correct their news reports that misgendered the victim. Organizations dedicated to advancing the rights of transgender people in Finland demand that both the authorities and the media take responsibility, follow their legal duties and correct their mistakes. Additionally, both the media and the authorities must treat transgender people with dignity and in a sensitive manner in the future. Equal treatment of trans people is enshrined in Finnish law and must be respected.
The police were very late in putting out a press release concerning the Vantaa homicide and in their report they misgendered the victim, calling her a man. The police also admitted to having forgotten to send out a press release about the homicide. According to people close to the victim and her public social media profiles she had been living out and proud as a woman for several years. In the Vantaa homicide the alleged perpetrator, a man in his 30s, stabbed a woman late in the night. The crime was a murder of a woman belonging to a marginalized group, not an “argument between men”, as the press release sent out by the police framed it.
Misgendering of transgender people in death is still very common and the fear of being remembered by a name that is not yours or in a gender you don’t belong to lives painfully in the hearts of many transgender people. Misgendering, especially at a point when the victim can no longer defend themselves and request it to be corrected, is the final hostile act that people who hold negative or even hostile views towards transgender people can commit, thus insulting the deceased. Due to Finland’s current legislation concerning transgender people many Finnish trans people cannot correct their gender markers on public documents and are therefore forced to use the incorrect gender marker assigned at birth in all official matters. As the Vantaa homicide proves, the current state of Finnish trans legislation has serious effects on the human rights of victims of serious crimes.
Essi's Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud profiles are https://www.facebook.com/essi.granlund.5/, https://www.instagram.com/essigranlund/ and https://soundcloud.com/essi-granlund.
http://trasek.fi/2020/07/21/jarjestojen-kannanotto/
https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006573479.html
https://murha.info/rikosfoorumi/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=29906
https://twitter.com/transyhdistys/status/1285634304752734214
https://twitter.com/transyhdistys/status/1284051019253645312
https://twitter.com/transyhdistys/status/1284068089404043266
https://twitter.com/SointuVinne/status/1284198318365708295
https://twitter.com/trasek_ry/status/1285594541404323840
http://trasek.fi/2020/07/21/jarjestojen-kannanotto/
