In the Last Three Years the Murders of More Than 500 Trans People Have Been Reported: TGEU Research
Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) is a comparative, ongoing qualitative-quantitative research project conducted by Transgender Europe. The project provides an overview of the human rights situation of trans persons in different parts of the world and develops useful data and advocacy tools for international institutions, human rights organisations, the trans movement and the general public. A research team from Transgender Europe is coordinating the project, which is funded by the Open Society Institute/Soros Foundations Network, the ARCUS Foundation, as well as partly by the Heinrich Boell Foundation. An Advisory Board, comprised of international LGBT, trans and human rights activists from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and Oceania, helps in mentoring the project. The project cooperates with partner organisations in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe and Oceania. The TvT research project is work in progress. The data collected are being compiled and updated periodically. A Spanish version of the website and all publications is available on the project website.
The Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) project started in April 2009 and systematically monitors, collects, and analyses reports of homicides of trans people worldwide. Updates of the preliminary results, which have been presented in July 2009 for the first time, are published on the website of the Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide project two to three times a year in the form of tables, name lists, and maps.
The March 2011 update has revealed a total of 539 cases of reported killings of trans people from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2010. A high number of killings since the last TMM update and additional cases discovered for the period of the last three years confirms earlier reports on the continuously elevated level of deadly violence against trans people on a global scale.
In total, the preliminary results show 539 reports of murdered trans people in 42 countries since January 2008.
On our website you can find more details and a map that demonstrates the absolute figures of reports found worldwide since January 2008, as well as an interactive map showing details of each reported murder.
Yet, we know, even these high numbers are only a fraction of the real figures; the truth is much worse.
These are mainly the reported cases, which could be found through Internet research. In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases. Another finding of these updates is that while Brazil has received special attention due to the elevated number of killings, the number of killings in other South and Central American countries like Venezuela, Honduras and in particular Guatemala is equally or even more worrying in view of the much smaller population sizes of these countries.
While the documentation of homicides against trans people is indispensable for demonstrating the shocking extent of human rights violations committed against trans people on a global scale, there is also a need for in-depth research of various other aspects related to the human rights situation of trans people. Therefore, Transgender Europe developed the Trans Murder Monitoring project into the ‘Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide’ (TvT) research project. TvT is a comparative, ongoing qualitative-quantitative research project, which provides an overview of the human rights situation of trans people in different parts of the world and develops useful data and advocacy tools for international institutions, human rights organizations, the trans movement and the general public. A research team from Transgender Europe is coordinating the project, which is funded by the Open Society Foundations, the ARCUS Foundation, and partly by the Heinrich Boell Foundation. The TvT research team is assisted by an Advisory Board, composed of international LGBT, trans and human rights activists and academics from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and Oceania. It furthermore cooperates with more than a dozen partner organisations in these six world regions. In September 2010, the TvT project research team has started a survey in cooperation with its partner organisations. The first results of this survey will be presented soon on international conferences and on the TvT website.
If you have further questions or if you want to support the research project, please check our website.