TRANSGENDER MURDERS ON THE RISE

A report issued by the international group Transgender Europe (TGEU) and the journal ‘Liminalis’ has shown that the murder of transgendered people is on the rise. In 2008, 121 cases of murder were reported in total, while 83 cases have already been reported this year.

The murders have taken place in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. They show that every three days a transgendered person is killed somewhere in the world with the majority of cases having been reported from Latin America and North America.

The report also shows that Brazil is the most dangerous place in the world for the transgendered community. In 2008, 59 people were murdered there while another 23 murders were reported so far this year. Following behind that, 16 transgendered people were murdered in the United States last year.

The report’s author, Carsten Balzer, noted that its assessment may only be the tip of the iceberg. “Firstly, the collected data shows only those cases which have been reported. There is no data and no estimates available for the unreported cases.

“Secondly, the data presented here does not show all reported cases worldwide, but only most of those, which can only be found on the Internet with some effort. Reports from local newspapers which have no web page are also missing,” Balzer added.