of trans persons killed were 35 years or younger
Registry of Violence
Against LGBT Persons
An Overview of Violence against LGBT Persons in the Americas a Registry Documenting Acts of Violence
between January 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has continued to monitor the situation of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex persons (LGBTI) in the Americas, and as a result it has documented killings and other instances of violence against LGBT persons during a fifteen-month period (between January 1st 2013 and March 31st 2014).
The IACHR notes that the majority of OAS Member States do not collect data on violence against LGBT persons. With a few exceptions of State reporting, the IACHR had to resort to other sources for information such as media coverage and reports from civil society organizations.
Main Numbers
acts of violence against LGBT persons, or perceived as such
persons who were LGBT or were perceived to be LGBT were killed
persons were victims of serious non-lethal attacks
OAS Member States
The common denominator of this violence is the perception by the perpetrator that the victim has transgressed accepted gender norms
Cases do occur in all 35 OAS Member States but are not always denounced or covered by the media.
Many cases of violence against LGBT persons are underreported; many persons are afraid of reprisals, reluctant to identify themselves as LGBT, or do not trust the police or the justice system.
gay men, or those perceived as such, killings
trans women, or trans persons who identify, as women killings
acts of violence against lesbian women or perceived as such. However, there is a significant underreporting and invisibility of this violence. “Through its different monitoring mechanisms the IACHR has historically received information on the vulnerability of lesbian women to acts of sexual violence, or intra-family violence; however, there is major underreporting of these acts. This may be because many forms of violence experienced by lesbian women occur in private and are intersectional forms of violence” IACHR,An Overview of Violence against LGBTI Persons in the Americas: a Registry Documenting Acts of Violence between January 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014, Annex Press Release 153. December 17, 2014.
cases of police abuse
Violence against trans persons, particularly trans women, is the result of a combination of factors: exclusion, discrimination and violence within the family, schools, and society at large; lack of recognition of their gender identity; involvement in occupations that puts them at a higher risk for violence; and high criminalization
Registry of Violence
Acts of violence against LGBT persons, or those perceived as such.
Download the registry of violence (in Spanish)
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