Methodology

This report is based on 27 semi-structured qualitative interviews with trans, Two-Spirit, and non-binary people that were conducted in 2020 and 2021. The study was designed and conducted collaboratively by the principal investigator2 and four co-investigators, with regular consultation with and direct contribution from community researchers at ASTT(e)Q.

There were two recruitment streams. First, 17 participants were recruited online through social media posts and emails shared by the CBRC and various community organizations across Canada. Interested individuals were instructed to fill out an online eligibility screener on Qualtrics that inquired about their demographic characteristics and experiences of various legal problems over the past three years. From this pool, participants were purposively selected to reflect a diversity of backgrounds, places of residence, and range of legal problems. Second, 10 participants were recruited through ASTT(e)Q because we (correctly) anticipated that the communities of people who access that organization’s services — predominantly, trans women who are current or past sex workers and who experience criminalization, poverty, transmisogyny,3 and violence, many of whom are also Black or racialized4 migrants — would not likely be reached through online recruitment methods. Potential participants were invited to take part in the study by co-investigators or community researchers. They were informed that their decision to participate (or not) would not impact their ability to receive services at ASTT(e)Q. Every participant received an honorarium.

To be eligible for the study, prospective participants in both streams had to reside in Canada, have experienced at least one serious legal problem in the past three years, be 16 years of age or older, and be able to complete an interview in either English or French. In total, 22 interviews were conducted in English and five in French, and all took place by phone or videoconferencing (Zoom). Participants were provided with a consent form by email to review in advance of the interview date, and interviewers obtained verbal consent from them before the interview. On average, interviews lasted 1.5 hours. Interviews were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed.

Once anonymized, transcripts were coded through a combination of inductive and deductive approaches (see Willms et al. 1990; Bernard 2017; Miles, Huberman, and Saldana 2019). In collaboration with community researchers, the principal investigator and co-investigators began by reviewing transcripts and identifying emergent themes. This formed the basis for an initial code book that was also informed by community expertise and existing literature. Sections of individual transcripts were then coded with the qualitative data analysis software NVivo, generating additional inductive (“ground up”) codes that emerged throughout the coding process.

Footnotes

2 The principal investigator, William Hébert, obtained a Certification of Institutional Ethics Clearance from the Carleton University Research Ethics Board (Project #113220).

3 Transmisogyny refers to the specific forms of discrimination, exclusion, and violence that trans women and other transfeminine persons experience because of the intersecting effects of transphobia and sexism (Serano 2007).

4 In this report, we separate Indigenous and Black participants from other racialized participants to recognize the particular histories and contemporary manifestations of colonialism and anti-Black racism in Canada. Still, we acknowledge that grouping other participants of color under the category “racialized” may contribute to erasing the differential impacts of racism within that group.