“You are powerful,” said Bamby Salcedo, emphasizing what she believes every transgender person needs to hear. Those were the first words of Salcedo’s speech as part of Transgender Awareness Week at Suffolk.

Salcedo, a prolific transgender rights activist and speaker, has been at the frontline for trans rights for almost 25 years. She is responsible for creating the TransLatina Coalition, an organization that provides professional and health services for transgender women of color, such as herself.

“The trans community was not included in the Civil Rights Movement,” Salcedo said on Wednesday. “Compared to the gay and lesbian communities, we are about 40 years behind. My work comes from saying, ‘Enough is enough.’”

For those unfamiliar with transgender identities and the vocabulary used to describe the trans and gender nonconforming community, the Office of Diversity Services held a Trans 101 workshop on Thursday that provided allies with the tools to effectively communicate with trans people.

Salcedo spoke of how institutional violence perpetuates the culture of transphobia.

When trans people are forced to use restrooms based on their genitalia and not their gender identity, or when a trans person is misgendered, or referred to by the wrong pronouns, structural violence — what Salcedo defined as systematic ways in which victims are harmed or disadvantaged — ensues.

Salcedo said examples of structural violence include  a lack of health services for trans people and the prison-industrial complex, which places trans people in prisons solely according to their genitalia.

“Structural violence makes it so that the trans community is invisible in the eyes of the law,” said Salcedo. “When we are not considered in policy-making, when we are not given educational and health opportunities, the message is that it’s okay to kill trans people.”

According to The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 22 transgender woman as of today have been murdered due to transphobia, most of them trans women of color. This exceeds the number of transgender women killed in 2014 and signals what Salcedo called “a state of emergency.”

Studies have shown that trans people of color, both men and women, are disproportionately affected by anti-LGBTQ violence. Last year, the NCAVP found 72 percent of anti-LGBTQ homicide victims were trans women, and 67 percent were trans women of color.

“Our lives are on the line,” Salcedo said. “Most of us live in fear because we are constantly facing violence.”

Suffolk has instituted changes on campus that foster trans inclusivity. As part of its “Trans Guide to Suffolk,” Diversity Services implemented gender-neutral restrooms in Miller Hall and in most buildings on the Suffolk campus, and last year, student health insurance began to cover transition-related care.

Trans Awareness Week culminates on Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20, when all of the lives that have been lost due to transphobic violence will be honored.

The week ultimately aims to provide a platform for trans students and their allies to educate others and to remember the adversities that plague the trans community.

For students who may be unhappy with the campus climate toward trans people, Salcedo said, “Don’t stay quiet. You should claim your right to a safe learning environment.”