A frightening new report by international group Transgendered Europe (TGEU) states that 200 transgendered people were killed from January 2008 to June 2009. While the report casts transgender violence as a global problem, the United States ranks as the second most dangerous place in the world for transgender people.
The report shows Brazil is by far the most dangerous place in the world for the transgendered community. In 2008, 59 people were murdered while another 23 murders were reported so far this year. Last year, 16 transgendered people were murdered in the United States, the second most dangerous place on Earth.
While the report is an effort to document all crimes, even its authors admit to the limitations of compiling a survey while countries continue to avoid reporting hate crimes.
"Firstly, the collected data shows only those cases which have been reported," report author
Carsten Balzer wrote. "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 adds.
Sadly, with cases like the shooting death of 22-year-old transgender woman Lateisha Green and most notably Gwen Araujo in 2002, such figures don't seem that far off.
The report shows Brazil is by far the most dangerous place in the world for the transgendered community. In 2008, 59 people were murdered while another 23 murders were reported so far this year. Last year, 16 transgendered people were murdered in the United States, the second most dangerous place on Earth.
While the report is an effort to document all crimes, even its authors admit to the limitations of compiling a survey while countries continue to avoid reporting hate crimes.
"Firstly, the collected data shows only those cases which have been reported," report author
Carsten Balzer wrote. "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 adds.
Sadly, with cases like the shooting death of 22-year-old transgender woman Lateisha Green and most notably Gwen Araujo in 2002, such figures don't seem that far off.
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