On the occasion of the Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which takes place every year on 20 November, the research project “Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide” (TvT) published data collected by Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) over the past year.

The results are worrying. Between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020, 350 transsexual and gender-queer people were murdered. This is an increase of 6 percent compared to 2019, with most murders occurring in Brazil (152), Mexico (57) and the United States (28).

The data for 2020 shows that

Of 350 people murdered worldwide, 98 percent were trans* women or femmes,
62 per cent of them have worked as sex workers,
82 per cent of all registered murders occurred in Central and South America, 43 per cent of them in Brazil alone,
79 per cent of the 28 trans people murdered in the US were black or PoC,
Of the 11 transsexuals murdered in Europe last year, 50 per cent were migrants,
38 percent of the murders took place in the street, 22 percent in the victim’s own home,
the average age of the murdered persons was 31 years, the youngest person was only 15 years old at the time of their murder.

Worrying trend

Since the start of the survey in 2008, the number of registered hate crimes against trans* people has risen to 3,664, indicating a worrying trend of a gradual increase in the number of murders of trans* and gender diverse people.

Moreover, figures are not complete as most countries do not collect data systematically. It is not possible to estimate the number of unreported cases, but the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher.

Vigil and remembrance

Every year on 20 November we commemorate trans* and gender diverse people who have been reported murdered in the last 12 months.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was initiated by the transgender activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith on the occasion of the murder of Rita Hester, a trans* woman who was stabbed to death in her Boston flat in 1998. The murder of Rita Hester, like most trans* murders, has not yet been solved.

TDoR founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith:

“Transgender Day of Remembrance wants to highlight the losses we suffer through bigotry and violence against transgender people. The need to fight for our rights is not alien to me, and the right to simply exist comes first. With so many trying to wipe out transgender people – sometimes in the most brutal way – it is vital that those we lose are remembered and that we continue to fight for justice”.

Smith founded the internet project “Remembering Our Dead”, which later became the international Transgender Day of Remembrance – an annual day of remembrance to commemorate all transgender people who have lost their lives in the past year to violence and discrimination. Each year on 20 November, vigils are held around the world. Instead of candlelight outdoors, this year’s vigil will be held online, due to COVID-19.

A live broadcast on the occasion of the Inclusive Community Church’s Transgender Day of Remembrance 2020 will start this evening at 8 pm Central European Time on YouTube.

A memorial page has also been set up on the translivesmatter website. The idea behind this project is to gather all information about deceased trans* people on one page so that others can understand who these people were and what happened to them.

You can find more ways to participate in the fight against trans*discriminatory violence HERE.

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