New figures released yesterday by the Trans Murder Monitoring project show 265 trans people were known to be the victims of violent killings across the world over the last 12 months.

The figures show a nearly 20% increase from last year, when 221 trans murders were reported.

The Trans Murder Monitoring project was started by Transgender Europe in 2009 but it has now developed into the TransRespect versus Transphobia project (TvT).

‘We are witnessing a significant increase [of murders], which points to the extreme level of violence many trans people continue to be exposed to,’ said a statement from Transgender Europe.

‘However, this increase may also reflect the TvT project’s intensified cooperation and data exchange with trans and LGBT organizations.’

Transgender Europe reported that ‘even these high numbers are only a fraction of the real figures; the truth is much worse’.

The figures show only documented cases which have been reported in 29 countries over the last 12 months.

‘In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases,’ said the statement.

Most of the reported murders happened in Brazil (126) but Transgender Europe pointed out that the number of killings in Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras and Guatemala ‘is equally or even more worrying in view of the much smaller population sizes of these countries’.

Nineteen Central and South American countries account for 80% of the reported homicides of trans people globally. But the USA reported the third highest number of trans murders (15) after Brazil and Mexico (48).

In Asia most reported trans murders over the last 12 months were in India (6), Pakistan (5) and the Philippines (4).

In Europe, Turkey reported the most trans murders (5).

The cumulative figures show 1,083 reports of murdered trans people in 56 countries since January 2008.

The figures were released for the 14th International Transgender Day of Remembrance, that will be commemorated around the world on Tuesday 20 November.