Transfobia Memorial Day reminds us of a chilling reality. New figures show 281 trans people murdered, but the true number is likely much higher
Today's Trans Day of Remembrance reopens the issue of safety, violence and visibility for trans communities around the world. This year's commemoration is also accompanied by a fresh update to the annual Transgender Europe and Central Asia (TGEU) report, which provides further disturbing insights into the extent of trans-phobic violence.
According to the Trans Murder Monitoring Unit, at least 281 trans and gender variant people were murdered between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. The aggregate data thus captures a tragic reality that is repeated year after year across the country.
A lower number than last year? Not necessarily good news
At first glance, the situation may appear to have improved slightly - the previous report cited 350 reported murders. But experts warn against jumping to conclusions. They say the drop in numbers does not reflect increased security, but rather the growing invisibility of these crimes.
"Since 2020, I've noticed a decrease in these types of reports, which may be due to the invisibility of these incidents or increased underreporting," explains TGEU researcher Sayonara Nogueira.
TGEU also notes that many states do not record data on violence against trans people at all, and in many cases the media and police misreport the gender of victims, making it difficult to access reliable information. As a result, the resulting figures represent a minimum of known cases.
Since monitoring began in 2009, 5,322 murders of trans people have been recorded worldwide.
The relentless reality: who is the most frequent target?
The report confirms a long-standing trend - violence affects most those who stand at the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination.
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88% of victims were black trans people and darker-skinned people
This proportion reflects the strong pattern of racial inequalities as well as the geographical distribution of cases. -
34% of those murdered were female sex workers.
Trans women in the sex industry face a combination of social exclusion, criminalisation and distrust of institutions, which increases the risk of assault and the likelihood that crimes will go uninvestigated. -
14% of victims were activists and leaders of the trans movement.
This trend is new and particularly alarming in this year's report - attackers are increasingly targeting people who represent the community and speak out for its rights.
The overwhelming majority of cases are femicides, that is, murders of trans women and transfeminine people.
Why are the numbers missing? Institutions are failing, NGOs are taking over
TGEU has long warned that without a unified system of data collection, it is impossible to approach the protection of trans people effectively. In many countries there is no standardisation, no statistics are kept on violence against the LGBTQ+ community, or cases are processed with incorrect personal details of victims.
"It is impossible to claim that the information and results presented here represent all murders and violence against trans people," says Nogueira. "This is because of the limitations of monitoring and, above all, the lack of government data."
The organization therefore says the actual number of trans people killed is likely significantly higher than what can be tracked.
A day that is both a reminder and a challenge
The Trans Day of Remembrance is primarily a day of remembrance, but in recent years it has also become a moment for activists and human rights organisations to remind people that visibility, protection and safety for the trans community remain crucial issues.
This year's data confirms this without a doubt. Behind every one of the 281 names reported is a person whose life could go on if institutions across the world took trans lives as seriously as everyone else. And if society didn't close itself off to the realities that these numbers painfully reveal.
