Death, rape and torture threats - the hatred faced as a transgender woman

A transgender woman says she has "no faith" in the police to effectively deal with hate crime.

It comes as figures obtained by ITV News West Country show hate crime against the LGBTQ+ community has risen by more than 32% across the region since 2019. However, just 4% of these cases have resulted in a charge.

At her home in Chippenham, Bobbi Pickard shared the abuse she has faced over the years and why she believes reporting hate crime can be a waste of time.

Bobbi said: "I've been spat at in the street. I've had drinks tipped over me. I've had bottles and stones thrown at me. That's just the physical abuse that's happened.

"Online the abuse is absolutely outrageous. I've had death threats, I've had rape threats, I've had torture threats. I've had people sending me videos of people being beheaded and telling me that I'm going to be next. It's just absolutely hideous."

Since she was three years old, Bobbi knew she was transgender and she has been transitioning all of her life.

She is incredibly grateful for the support of her family and friends but said that acceptance is not widespread.

"There are no barriers either in person or online that certain people have when it comes to hate crime," Bobbi added.

As reports of hate crimes have increased, police forces across the West Country are trying to improve training and awareness to effectively deal with cases.

Since 2019, Gloucestershire has seen the highest increase in reported hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community at 124% - but the lowest charge rate compared to other counties.

Gloucestershire saw the sharpest increase in LGBTQ+ hate crime. The county's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson said the force has historically not been very good at recording crime but attempts are being made to improve this.

The PPC cited better training and awareness among officers, investing more in neighbourhood policing and the value of restorative justice.

Over the years, Bobbi has been recognised for her work with the LGBTQ+ community.

But Bobbi Pickard said she, and many others in LGBTQ+ community she knows, do not have faith in police forces to deal with hate crime properly.

Bobbi said: "Unless there was something where it fell into the boundary of physical assault or bodily harm where it was so cut and dried, then it would be absolutely pointless.

"I'd have no trust in any of the police forces not to be transphobic, not to treat me like a sub-class citizen in my own country. So there's absolutely no point going to any of our police forces to report any hate crime."

Bobbi is hopeful for the future. She said that if police forces across the South West invest in training and policing, crimes can be dealt with more effectively.

Her ultimate hope is that people stop abusing LGBTQ+ people in the first place.

"We can change it around, of course we can change it around," Bobbi said.

"At the moment, the problem is that there is such a void of knowledge of what trans and non-binary actually is - that fuels people's fears.

"There's nothing scary or bad about the trans and non-binary community. The most important word actually in that phrase isn't trans, it's people.

"We are just people trying to get on with our lives."