MARCH 2013
Constant Rise in Murder Rates
Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project reveals more than 1,100 reported murders of trans people in the last five years
The March 2013 update reveals a total of 1,123 reported killings of trans people in 57 countries worldwide from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2012. The update shows a significant/constant increase in reported killings of trans people over the last five years. In 2008, 148 cases were reported, in 2009 217 cases, in 2010 229 cases, in 2011 262 cases, and in 2012 267 cases. It is important to note that these cases are those that could be found through Internet research and through cooperation with trans organizations and activists. In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases.
The increase suggests that on the one hand TGEU’s TVT research team has improved its monitoring methods, and received information from activists from many parts of the world. On the other it suggests that an increase in the visibility of trans people and of trans issues in public discourse may have led to a better reporting of cases. Clearly the shocking amount of violence against trans people still poses a major problem and threat to trans people in many countries. The alarming figures demonstrate once more that there is an urgent need to react to the violence against trans people and to seek mechanisms to protect trans people. Some international trans activists even started to introduce the term ‘transcide’ to reflect the continuously elevated level of deadly violence against trans people on a global scale.
Cases have been reported from all major World Regions (Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and Oceania), evoking an evermore gruesome picture, especially given the very partial knowledge we are able to gain in many places.
Most reported cases were from Central and South America, which amount to 864 reports in 22 countries and account for 77 % of the globally reported murders of trans people since January 2008. In this region, there has been the strongest increase in reports (2008: 94, 2009: 165, 2010: 181, 2011: 206, and 2012: 218).
If you wish to reference the material provided below, please use the following citation: TvT research project (2013) “Trans Murder Monitoring results: TMM MARCH 2013 Update,” “Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide” (TvT) project website: http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en/tvt-project/tmm-results/march-2013.htm
You can download the full TGEU TMM March 2013 Update Press Release here.
You can find a list with names and more detailed data as well as statistics and charts here.
The map below shows the distribution of all 1,123 reported cases between January 2008 and December 2012
Click image to view large version or download the PDF file.
You can see an interactive map showing the majority of all murders reported since January 2008 as well as more details of each reported murder here.
Tables, statistics, and grafics showing TMM results for January 2008 to December 2012 in more detail:
