The country that kills the most transgender people for the 15th year in a row has seen an 11% increase!

Summary of the interview and data provided by Sayonara Nogueira, Secretary of Communication for the Trans Brazil Network, President of the LGBTQIA+ Popular Council of Uberlândia, and responsible for the transnational survey compiled by TGEU, an organization that monitors violence and deaths of transgender people worldwide. The 133 violent deaths of transgender/transvestite people in Brazil in 2023, and the total of 1076 murders in the country in the last eight years, highlight the struggle of a group still made invisible within the LGBTI+ acronym.A compact version was produced for the Transvestite Program, shown on the TV Brasil247 channel and can be accessed HERE!

The Trans Brazil Network is the first Brazilian institution to catalog cases of murder, suicide, and human rights violations against the trans, transvestite, and gender-diverse population.¹ In Brazil, it reminds us how far we've come, but above all, how much further we still need to go before respect reaches everywhere. We launched our first (de)nunciative apparatus entitled: "The Geography of Trans Bodies," a work that consisted of a partnership with the organization Transgender Europe (TGEU), for the project “Trans Respect versus Transphobia”, in which we still feed data related to TDoR.².

Throughout the monitoring over the last 08 years, high levels of intolerance and social exclusion of the Brazilian trans population have been observed. Inequality, vulnerability, and prejudice are common elements in our lives, as we are basically deprived of all constitutional rights. Reflecting on the data collected on deaths means thinking about the relations of domination to which we are subjected, the levels of oppression, the processes of exclusion, trajectories, and the places of bodies deemed unacceptable.

We begin by recalling the pioneering work of the Gay Group of Bahia (GGB), which for four decades published reports on the violent deaths of LGBT+ people in Brazil. It is also always good to highlight the work of activists Indianarae Siqueira, leading the Transrevolution movement in Rio de Janeiro, Kelly (SP), and other trans women working in a network, who collected specific data focusing on trans individuals and published it on social networks like Facebook (data such as the name, date of birth, city, and state of the murdered victims).

When the Trans Brazil Network began this work, its main goal was to draw the attention of society, government officials, and authorities to the need for specific public policies for our community, which still lives in a cycle of social exclusion in all spheres.

The objective of producing this Dossier, since data collection in 2016, has been to denounce the cases of murders and human rights violations suffered by the transvestite, trans women and men, transmasculine and gender-diverse population in the country, demonstrating an inhumane reality where prejudice, discrimination, and the stigma of being/identifying as a trans or transvestite person in Brazil still cause countless physical and social deaths.

We follow the TGEU methodology and prioritize secure information and reliable data, from confirmation to cataloging of cases. When we receive a report or case of homicide, we initially seek references and then contact local institutions affiliated with the Trans Brazil Network so that they can seek information from official bodies, such as the Public Security Secretariats of their States and Municipalities, the Center for Combating LGBTphobia, and other official verification channels.

Thus, we proceeded, in a responsible and reliable manner, with a cataloging process that reflects reality in its entirety, both quantitatively and qualitatively. After checking the data, the information is transferred to an Excel spreadsheet, primarily highlighting the... source of collection.

It is important to emphasize that there is underreporting of data, since official government agencies do not undertake research on this subject. Therefore, it is not possible to state that the information and results presented here represent the totality of homicides and violence committed against transvestites, trans women and men, and transmasculine and gender-diverse people, due to limitations during monitoring and the absence of government information; therefore, it is impossible to accurately measure this criminological phenomenon.

In our research, in the year 2023, we recorded 119 cases The number of homicides of transgender and transvestite people in Brazil increased by approximately 11% compared to 2022, when 100 cases were recorded. The 2024 Dossier also cataloged suicide cases that came to our attention, as well as human rights violations and attempted homicides reported by media outlets such as the internet, social media, newspapers, and television.

Considering also the number of transgender people who committed suicide, which was 14 in 2023, the total number of violent and social deaths reached... 133 transgender people killed in 2023.In eight years of monitoring by the Trans Brazil Network, 1076 murders were recorded in the country.

The highest concentration of violent deaths was recorded in the Northeast region, with 39,5% of cases, maintaining its first place position as in 2022. The Southeast region continues in second place with 33,6% of murders. In third place, we have the South region with 10,9% of murders; in fourth place, the North region, with 10,1%, and, lastly, the Central-West region, with 5,9%.

In absolute numbers, São Paulo was the state with the most recorded murders of transgender people in 2023, with 15 cases. Rio de Janeiro came in second with 13 cases, and Ceará was third with 12 reported cases.

For six years, the state of São Paulo led the ranking of deaths, with the state of Ceará taking first place in 2022. In second place during these seven years were Rio de Janeiro (2016, 2018, 2021), Minas Gerais (2017), Ceará (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), Bahia (2018), and Pernambuco (2021, 2022). And configuring the third place are Rio Grande do Sul (2016, 2019), Bahia (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022), Pernambuco (2018), Amazonas (2019), Minas Gerais (2019, 2020, 2022), Paraná (2019), Espírito Santo (2019), Rio de Janeiro (2019, 2022) and São Paulo (2022).

In 2023, we had 94,1% trans women and/or transvestites and 5,9% trans men. Thus, it is clear that the closer one is to the social, cultural, and historical construct of femininity, the greater the violence.

Of the 100 cases monitored in 2022, 29 occurrences did not include the victim's age, while in 2023 this number reduced to 23 notifications. Regarding data that did include the victim's age, in 2022 there was a prevalence in the 26-35 age group, with 43,7% of cases, while in 2023 there was a decline to 25,5%. The prevalence among victims aged 18-25 was 42,6%, compared to 35,2% the previous year. There was an increase in the 46-55 age group with 7,4% of cases; 03 victims were minors and one victim was 56 years old.

According to the 2023 Atlas of Violence, regarding transvestite and transgender victims, the age range of victims is very similar, with the 15-29 age group standing out, accounting for more than 45% of the total victims across all categories.

It is important to emphasize that the censuses carried out by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) to date have not included gender identity in their surveys, and the current census, conducted in 2022, also excluded the fields "gender identity" and "sexual orientation." Another bottleneck is that many of the incidents reported in the media also do not include the victim's age.

Regarding the records, 77% of the victims were racialized individuals, including mixed-race and Black people, 20,5% were white transgender people, and we located 01 (one) murder of an Asian person and another of an Indigenous person. In this context, being part of this segment in Brazil means having a life marked by denials, both in relation to identity (being able to be who you are), and in relation to access to basic rights that should, in practice, be guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, regardless of race, social class, and also sexuality and gender.

Upon analyzing the cause of death of the reported victims, we found that 43% were due to the use of firearms and 22% to stabbings. Of all the records made, 19 victims were killed violently, including dismemberment, strangulation, asphyxiation, beatings, and torture. There were 06 (six) deaths by bludgeoning, 04 (four) victims burned beyond recognition, and 01 (one) murder by stoning. We reported 01 (one) pedestrian accident, 01 (one) victim reported with a sudden illness, and another death due to a building collapse.

Regarding the location of the homicides, we noted that most occurred in public places, followed by the victim's own residence. Nighttime is very dangerous for sex workers, and unfortunately, violence is a recurring phenomenon against trans women and transvestites, culminating in a large percentage of murders in public places/streets.

Regarding the disclosure of victims' gender identity in the media, in 2023, 84% of such media outlets respected it, while 16% disrespected gender identity, referring to them using masculine pronouns. The Trans Brazil Network was the first Brazilian organization to denounce this type of violation in 2016, demonstrating that most of the press disrespected gender identity in the articles circulating about homicides.

When analyzing the relationship with the victim, out of a total of 119 cases found, 93 did not specify the type of relationship between the victim and their killer. We have 07 (seven) murders committed by clients, 02 (two) cases through casual encounters, 02 (two) cases where there was no relationship of any kind, 01 (one) case due to a drug debt, 03 (three) cases committed by ex-partners, 04 (four) cases by boyfriends, 03 (three) cases by partners, 01 (one) case mentions a criminal faction, and 01 (one) case committed by a neighbor.

According to the reported cases, 67% of the murderers were cisgender men, 0,0% cisgender women, 1% were committed by their own peers, and 33% of the news reports stated that the case was under investigation and there was no knowledge of who had committed the violence. Of all the cases verified, 79,7% are still under investigation, in 16,9% the suspect was arrested, and in 3,4% the suspect was identified. These data reaffirm the State's omission regarding the resolution of these crimes, when it does not hold the victim accountable for their own death.

In 2023, 253 transgender, transvestite, and gender-diverse people were murdered in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of the 253 cases monitored, 119 were registered in Brazil. Brazil continues to lead the ranking in the region, followed by Mexico with 45 murders, Colombia with 25 murders, Ecuador in fourth place with 19 cases, and Peru in fifth place with 11 occurrences.

Of this total in the country, 94% of the victims identified as female, representing a double gender-based violence, as they were both women and transgender, while 6% of the victims were transgender men.

Cases of domestic violence involving transgender women were highlighted in the press. The Northeast and Southeast regions continue to lead in cases; and São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Ceará were the states with the highest number of reported cases. The prevalence of murdered victims was between 18 and 25 years old, which in 2023 became the average age of murdered transgender people. The youngest victim was 16 years old, and 03 (three) transgender teenagers were murdered.

Regarding race and ethnicity, 77% of the victims were racialized individuals (Black and mixed-race), and the high rate of sex worker victims remains. Transphobia, racism, sexism, and classism are interconnected, demonstrating in the statistics that Black transvestites and trans women are the most affected by all this violence and violation of human rights. Most of the murders occurred in public places and inside the victims' homes, and there was an increase in cases within residences. The majority of the murderers were male, and regarding the investigation of the facts, there is a perceived omission on the part of the State in these cases, when they do not blame the victim for their own murder.

Reflecting on spatialization means thinking about urban networks, territory, and place, which also leads me to the right to the city. This hostile scenario serves the interests of the dominant classes, marked by the patriarchal, cisheteronormative model and the whiteness that generates transphobic violence, translated into physical, verbal, psychological, moral, or patrimonial violence. This text is not only about trans bodies, but also a cissexist (YORK, 2020) and misogynistic denunciation that the closer one is to the social, cultural, and seemingly feminine construct, the greater the violence.

References

ATLAS OF VIOLENCE 2023 / coordinators: Daniel Cerqueira; Samira Bueno – Brasília: Ipea; FBSP, 2023.

NOGUEIRA, SNB; ARAÚJO, TA; MARQUES, MEC; BARBOSA, Dú Cruz; SÁ, SC; MARQUES, WM The Rights of the Transgender Community in Public SafetyAracaju: Rede Trans Brasil, Uberlândia: Ed. dos Autores, 2023.

YORK, Sara Wagner. "AUNT, ARE YOU A MAN? Trans in/of education: Challenging and occupying the Postgraduate "systems". Master's thesis; UERJ (2020).

1 Nomenclature used by Sara Wagner York when responsible for translating the text for the organization Transgender Europe in 2018.

2. TDoR can be translated as International Transgender Day of Remembrance and is celebrated annually on November 20th in memory of people who have been murdered as a result of transphobia. Other dates of great importance also gain significance, such as January 29th, when we commemorate the first campaign that united transvestites and the Ministry of Health, in 2004.