Conflict Incident Report

A video that recently went viral on social media opens with a woman running past the camera, a look of fear on her face. The camera then approaches a Lebanese man, who forces another woman to the floor, beating her around the head. She cries out in pain.

The exact motive for the attack is unconfirmed, but Lebanese activists with knowledge of the incident have said there is one definite factor in the woman’s beating: She is transgender.

“This is not just an incident that happened once,” Ghenwa Samhat, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy organization Helem told The Daily Star. “Trans individuals have to deal with [attacks of this nature] each and every day.”

Social media users suggested the man, who had employed the victim as a sex worker, attacked her upon finding out she was transgender.