Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) 2017 • Press Release
325 trans and gender-diverse people reported murdered in the last year
On the occasion of the International Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which is held on 20th of November 2017 [1], Transgender Europe (TGEU) is publishing the Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) research project update [2] to join the voices raising awareness of this day regarding violence against trans and gender-diverse people, and to honour the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten.
The TDoR 2017 update has revealed a total of 325 cases of reported killings of trans and gender-diverse people between 1st of October 2016 and 30th of September 2017, constituting an increase of 30 cases compared to last year’s update. The majority of the murders occurred in Brazil (171), Mexico (56), and the United States (25), adding up to a total of 2,609 reported cases in 71 countries worldwide between 1st of January 2008 and 30th of September 2017.
Trans and gender-diverse people around the world are victims of horrifying hate violence, including extortion, physical and sexual assaults, and murder, which often go unreported. In most countries, data on violence against trans and gender-diverse people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the actual number of cases.
Violence against trans and gender-diverse people frequently overlaps with other axes of oppression prevalent in society, such as racism, sexism, xenophobia, and anti-sex worker sentiment and discrimination. Of the reported killings of trans and gender-diverse people whose profession was known, 62% were sex workers. In Europe, Turkey has seen 44 trans women, the majority sex workers, murdered in the last almost nine years. At the same time, in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, which are the countries to which most trans and gender-diverse people from Africa and Central and South America migrate, 69% of the reported murder victims were migrants. TMM data also shows that, in the United States, the victims are overwhelmingly trans people of colour and/or Native American (86%).
The report entitled The Vicious Circle of Violence: Trans and Gender-Diverse People, Migration, and Sex Work can be found on www.transrespect.org/en/tvt-publication-series, and addresses institutional and interpersonal violence and their interconnectivity.
For more Information, TGEU’s Transrespect Officer, Lukas Berredo, and TGEU’s Project Manager, Boglarka Fedorko, are available for interviews and questions, and can be reached at lukas[at]tgeu.org and boglarka[at]tgeu.org respectively.
- Press Release (pdf)
- Name list Oct 2016 – Sep 2017 (pdf)
- Tables 2008 – Sep 2017 (pdf)
- Summary tables Oct 2016 – Sep 2017 (pdf)
- Map 2008 – Sep 2017 (pdf)
- Map Oct 2016 – Sep 2017 (pdf)
- Infographic (image)
NOTES:
[1] Since 1999 the Trans Day of Remembrance, also known as Transgender Day of Remembrance, (TDoR), takes place every November. It is a day on which those trans and gender-diverse people who have been victims of homicide are remembered. Started in the US, TDoR is now held in many parts of the world.
[2] The Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) research project systematically monitors, collects, and analyses reports of homicides of trans and gender-diverse people worldwide. Updates of the results are published on the TvT website: http://transrespect.org/en/trans-murder-monitoring/tmm-resources
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