Transgender Awareness Week 2023: The Harrowing Truth
As Transgender Awareness Week kicks off around the world, a new report has been released revealing shocking statistics about the livelihood of transgender people. The harrowing truth revealed by The Trans Murdering Monitoring Report is shocking, to say the least.
The report tracks the number of murders reported by the media within the transgender community each year, and this year the numbers are high. The reporting period for this year’s report begins on October 1, 2022, and ends on September 30, 2023. This year’s report documents that three hundred and twenty transgender and gender-diverse people were murdered within that time frame. This number only takes into account those cases reported by the media. It does not include anyone who may not have attracted media coverage or were not reported to authorities at all.
Of those three hundred and twenty people murdered, the overwhelming majority were trans women or trans-feminine people. Many of them were sex workers, and an alarmingly high number were also Black.
Of those reported killed, many were incredibly young, with the nineteen to twenty-five-year-old age bracket coming in first as the most targeted people. 77% of those killed were between the ages of nineteen and forty.
An alarming 73% of reported murders happened in Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil is highlighted as having the highest number of transgender deaths, with their count making up nearly one-third (31%) of the total figure. In 2022, Brazil also had the highest number of transgender and gender-diverse murders in the world.
46% of the victims’ lives were taken by gun violence, however many were beaten, stabbed, and then subsequently burned later.
The number of trans victims murdered this year is down ever so slightly from 2022, but the harrowing truth remains that our transgender community is not safe in this world.
The Need For Remembrance
Taking place on November 20, 2023, it’s clear that we need a day of remembrance for our transgender community. This solemn occasion was started in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender advocate who wanted to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a trans woman who was murdered in 1998. The idea was to commemorate not just Hester’s death, but all the trans people lost to violence since then, and it has continued to grow each year.
It has morphed into what we now know as Transgender Day of Remembrance.
We all know that visibility and representation play a crucial role in changing the status quo. With harrowing statistics being reported, such as those being reported by The Trans Murdering Monitoring Report, this seems more important than ever.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is encouraging people to participate in Transgender Day of Remembrance by attending or organizing an event on November 20 to honor all those trans lives lost to anti-trans violence in 2023.
Here at Q+ Magazine, we’ll be releasing a couple of pieces this week in honor of Transgender Awareness Week in support of our trans community members. Stay tuned for more information regarding these releases as they happen.
The full version of The Trans Murdering Monitoring Report will be released on November 20, 2023.
