A transgender victim has been made the subject of a constant campaign of abuse, following a gang of teenagers who began to intimidate them last summer.
What started as a standalone incident has become something much more harrowing. For nearly a year now River, aged 29 and who name has been changed to protect their safety, has been harassed, had the windows of their home smashed in and, on one occasion, had to contact police when a teenager turned up wielding a hammer.
River, who lives in East Yorkshire, has come forward to tell of the misery to which they and their family have been subjected - which they strongly feel is a result of their gender identity.
River identifies as transgender and now wants to highlight the hate and discrimination their community faces, Hull Live reports.
River said: "As time has gone on, the situation has gotten progressively worse. These kids started following us around on walks and shouting abuse at us, calling me a 'tr***y'.
"But then more recently, they've been coming to our home address and causing damage by smashing a window. One of them carried a hammer and came in the middle of the night, banging on the window."
The anxiety suffered by River's family is such that they have had to seek advice from the fire service in case of an arson attack.
Hate crime against transgender people is on the rise in England – up by 16 per cent to 2,630 incidents in the year ending March 2021. Data gathered by the Government Equalities Office found 88 per cent of the country's estimated 200,000-500,000 people who identify as trans do not report hate crimes, meaning the true extent of the problem is likely to be far worse.
For River, the campaign of abuse wagered against them means they now fear not just for their safety, but for that of their mum and grandmother, with whom they live.
River's mum has been assaulted and threatened, while their grandma, who suffers with dementia, has been left terrified by the youths banging on the window at night.
"The youths have threatened to send adults to rape my mum as revenge for me reporting them to the police, and as well as attacking my mum they threw rocks and spat at her," River added.
The family have involved Humberside Police on multiple occasions. Officers had been extremely supportive and done as much as they could within their remit, River added. As the offenders were all under the age of 18, those who had been identified had been given out-of-court orders.
The campaign of abuse against River and their family reached sinister levels after alerting police, when malicious, completely untrue rumours that they were a paedophile were circulated. "It was already awful enough before that started happening," River said. "People need to know that these kinds of things are happening in our society."
"It's like a Catch-22," they added. "If you don't have any evidence of these long-running crimes, the police can't do anything. But when you do and you hand it over, it leaves you open to retaliation.
"I know there have been lots of problems in Hull with anti-social behaviour, but this feels very targeted and has become very sinister. They stare through the window of my home, where I should feel safe, while I'm minding my business. They bang on the windows while I'm in the shower.
"When they do this stuff, they film it on their phones too."
River spoke of their plight this Pride Month as a Hull resident has taken it upon themselves to launch a campaign to make the city a safe space for transgender people. Connor Overfield is trying to get Hull City Council on board with their campaign, Hull Pledge, to stamp out discrimination faced by the community.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
READ NEXT:
- Three 'persistent' signs of high cholesterol that show in the feet
- Lorraine Kelly shares her weight loss tips after dropping two dress sizes
- Brooklyn Beckham's wife Nicola Peltz 'takes swipe' at David and Victoria
