295 trans murders just the tip of the iceberg

It’s been revealed that no less that 295 transgender and gender-diverse people were reported murdered across the globe in the last year.

The tragic statistic was released ahead of the 18th International Trans Day of Remembrance (20 November) by Transgender Europe (TGEU).

The group’s Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) research project aims to raise awareness of hate crimes against trans and gender-diverse people, and to honour the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten.

The TDoR 2016 update has included a total of 295 cases of reported killings of trans and gender-diverse people between 1 October 2015 and 30 September 2016.

This update documents murders in 33 countries, with the majority happening in Brazil (123), Mexico (52), the United States (23), Colombia (14), and Venezuela (14).

In Asia, most reported cases are in India (6) and Pakistan (5) and, in Europe, in Italy (5) and Turkey (5).

Mambaonline is aware of at least one murder of a transgender South African during this period. On 27 December last year, 30-year-old Phoebe Titus, a hairdresser in the Western Cape Town of Wolseley, was knifed to death by a 15-year-old youth in broad daylight.

Before killing her he allegedly shouted homophobic and transphobic slurs, including “vuil moffie” (dirty faggot) at the woman.

TGEU noted that its figures “only show the tip of the iceberg of homicides of trans and gender-diverse people on a worldwide scale” as they include only cases found through Internet research and through cooperation with local trans organisations and activists.

In most countries, data on murdered trans and gender-diverse people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases.

Since the project began in January 2008, TGEU has listed a total of 2,264 reported killings of trans and gender-diverse people worldwide to-date.

Started in the USA in 1999 the Trans Day of Remembrance is marked every November and is now held in many parts of the world.