Content warning: transphobia, violence, physical assault
Trans beauty YouTuber and Instagram influencer Eden The Doll recently shared a series of Instagram stories that detailed her and her friends’ experience of being harassed and mugged in Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Instagram stories detailed the attack as well as the account details of the harasser, who posted the video of himself attacking Eden and her friends on social media. “I was robbed, attacked, and jumped in Hollywood tonight,” she wrote. Along with a screenshot of the attacker’s Instagram page, Eden writes, “HE MOCKED US, sexualized and instigated THE ENTIRE attack. Him and his friends stole from us. Beat us. Laughed at us. Humiliated us. AND had the nerve to POST IT.”
The series of stories continue on to describe that the attackers initially were going to rob Eden of her phone while she waited for an Uber, however, the mugging turned extremely violent when the men began throwing rocks at and pursuing Eden and her friends. One attacker, Eden recounts, hit her and tried to steal her purse while another one showed her friend, Joslyn Flawless falling after being pursued.
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Jaslene Whiterose, who was with Eden at the time of the attack as well, bore the brunt of the attack as the men threw a scooter at her and bashed her in the head. The video that Eden shared showed the men laughing at the three women and even saying “she’s dead” when Jaslene passed out from the attacks. World of Wonder reports that police and passerby who witnessed the event did not respond to the women’s’ call for help.
Eden’s stories continue with her saying, “Women like me get murdered on the fucking daily. People preach Black Lives Matter and want equality for all but this is how they treat BLACK TRANS WOMEN. If their lives don’t matter then none of ours do!”
“Pose” star Indya Moore also weighed in on the attacks, saying, “The senseless targetting of black and brown trans femmes with violence and baseless punishment must come to an end.” They also called on fellow Black people to center trans people when fighting against white supremacy. “Everyday time and time again, it is proven that the welfare life peace safety of black and brown trans femmes is betrayed by everyone including the very black and brown people we are and fight for.”
The National Center for Transgender Equality says that one in four trans people experience assault, with assault rates higher for trans women and trans people of color. Currently, The Human Rights Campaign has recorded 26 cases of trans and gender non-confirming people being shot to death in 2020 alone, although they made it clear that it’s only an estimate as many of these cases are rarely taken seriously and reported.
Eden The Doll is currently working on compiling evidence against the perpetrator, while her friends Jaslene and Joslyn are in recovery.
Header photo by Cameron Casey from Pexels
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