More than 3,000 trans people have been murdered, hanged or burned since proper records began in 2008
Placard at a Chicago rally for trans lives. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
3,317 trans and non-binary people have been recorded as murdered around the world since 2008, but the already shocking number is likely to be much higher.
A report by Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT), initiated by Transgender Europe, has been published every year since 2008 for Transgender Day of Remembrance, listing the recorded murders of trans and gender-diverse people since the last report.
Since the report began, 3,314 murders in 74 countries have been recorded, and 331 trans people were killed this year alone, between October 1 2018 and September 30 2019.
Many of the victims in the report were tortured, sexually assaulted, shot, hanged or burned.
The report states: “Stigma and discrimination against trans and gender-diverse people is real and profound around the world, and are part of a structural and ongoing circle of oppression that keeps us deprived of our basic rights.
“Trans and gender-diverse people are victims of horrifying hate violence, including extortion, physical and sexual assaults, and murder.”
Ukrainian LGBT+ activists mark Transgender Day of Remembrance 2016. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty)
However, the actual number of murders is likely to be far higher than the killings recorded in the report.
It continues: “In most countries, data on murdered trans and gender-diverse people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the actual number of cases.”
The majority of the murders this year took place in Brazil (130 people), Mexico (63 people) and the US (30 people). One trans person, Amy Griffiths, was killed in the UK since the 2018 report.
The report shows that transphobic hate often crosses over with other kinds of hate, like racism, xeophobia, sexism and discrimination against sex workers.
For the victims whose occupations were recorded, this year 61 per cent were sex workers.
In the US, 85 per cent of trans people murdered were trans women of colour or of Native American descent.
Trans people escaping from persecution in Africa and Central and South America often migrate to France, Italy, Portugal or Spain. In these countries, 65 per cent of murdered trans people were migrants.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is held on November 20 every year in honour of trans people who have been murdered.
