TGEU’s Trans Murder Monitoring warns that this increase occurs in the context of the advance of anti-democratic and transphobic movements.

Washington DC, November 20, 2024 – Today, on Trans Day of Remembrance, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) emphasizes the urgency of driving concrete action to eradicate hate crimes globally. This year, the Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) of Transgender Europe and Central Asia (TGEU), has documented the highest number of murders of trans and gender-diverse persons in its history.

Between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, it registered 350 murders worldwide, with Latin America and the Caribbean being the region with the highest rates, with 70% of recorded murders occurring in the region.[1] Unfortunately, for the seventeenth consecutive year, Brazil has the highest share of murders in the region (30%).

In addition, TGEU reports that, of the total, 94% of the victims were black or brown trans women and the majority were trans sex workers (46%).

Anti-democratic and transphobic advances

As civil society and human rights organizations in the region have denounced, this increase is in response to the global context of the consolidation of anti-gender and anti-rights movements that promote anti-democratic and transphobic political agendas, whose messages are based on false and stigmatizing information. Disinformation, the impunity with which hate speech is propagated, and the lack of solid legislation that prevents, punishes, and implements measures of non-repetition are some of the causes.

In this sense, Race and Equality calls on States to comply with their international obligations and, consequently, to adopt urgent and concrete measures that guarantee the integrity of trans persons. Below are some recommendations in line with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations:

• Adopt laws and policies that facilitate the modification of the “name”, “sex”, or “gender” component in the official identification documents of trans and gender-diverse persons, to guarantee legal recognition in line with what is dictated by the standards of the 24/17 Advisory Opinion.
• Systematically collect data on acts of violence and murders against trans and gender-diverse persons, disaggregated by gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic-racial identity, and age.
• Have a public policy with a gender focus for investigations into violence and murders against trans and gender-diverse persons, respecting their social name and the identity of the person, as well as the establishment of guarantees of non-repetition.
• Monitor and publicly sanction transphobic discourse reproduced in public and private institutions and in the media that calls for discrimination and violence against the trans and gender-diverse population.
• Promote, through institutions and official channels, a campaign to educate and raise awareness about sexual orientation and gender identity among the general population, public officials, and public service personnel, to generate a context of recognition and respect for the integrity and life of trans and gender-diverse persons.

Race and Equality will continue to promote and defend the human rights of trans and gender-diverse persons, supporting their national and international advocacy actions, their research, and the modification of components in their identity documents. It is urgent and necessary that we work together so that the voices of trans and gender-diverse persons are heard loudly.

[1] Transgender Europe and Central Asia (TGEU) 2023 Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM). Available at https://tgeu.org/files/uploads/2024/11/TGEU-TMM-TDoR2024-Table-2.pdf