257 LGBTs died violent deaths in Brazil in 2023, says NGO

NGO data GGB (Grupo Gay da Bahia) released on Saturday (January 20, 2024) show that 257 LGBTQIA+ people died violent deaths in Brazil in 2023, the equivalent of one victim every 34 hours.

This statistic, according to the organization, keeps Brazil as the most homotransphobic country in the world.

For 44 years, the NGO has been collecting data on homicide and suicide deaths among the LGBTQIA+ population by compiling reports, internet searches and information obtained from relatives of the victims.

The number recorded by GGB, however, could be even higher. According to the entity, 20 deaths are still under investigation, which could increase the cases to up to 277.

“The government continues to ignore this true holocaust that, every 34 hours, violently kills an LGBT person”said anthropologist Luiz Mott, founder of the group.

Of the total deaths recorded by the NGO, 127 were transvestites and transgender people, 118 were gay, 9 were identified as lesbians and 3 as bisexual.

“For the second time in 4 decades, [mortes de] transvestites outnumbered gays in absolute numbers. This is worrying because transvestites and transsexuals represent around 1 million people and gays represent 10% of Brazil's population, around 20 or 22 million people. So, the chance or risk of a trans or transvestite being murdered [no país] is 19 times higher than for a gay or lesbian”Mott highlighted.

The report also reveals that the majority of victims (67%) were young people aged 19 to 45 when they suffered violent deaths. The youngest of them was just 13 years old and was killed in Sinop, Mato Grosso, after an attempted rape.

Among these deaths, 204 cases were homicides and 17 were robberies. The Bahia Gay Group also recorded 20 suicides, 6 more than were recorded in 2022.

Regarding the location of the violence, 29.5% of victims died at home, but one in 4 died on the streets or outside. “The pattern of transvestites being shot to death on the runway, vacant lots, roads, motels and inns persists, while gays and lesbians are killed by stabbings or with tools and household items, especially inside their apartments”says the report.

Regions

Another fact that the Bahia Gay Group considers worrying is that the majority of deaths were recorded in the Southeast. It was the first time, in 44 years, that the region assumed the position of most impacted region, with 100 cases recorded.

The Northeast appeared in 2nd position, with 94 deaths. Next came the South regions, with 24 deaths, the Central-West, with 22, and the North, with 17.

“The unexplained increase in violent mortality among LGBT+ people in the Southeast draws attention, which jumped from 63 cases in 2022 to 100 in 2023, ranking 1st nationally, a phenomenon never observed since 1980: an increase of 59%. Unfortunately, such data show that, contrary to what is said and what we all aspire to, higher education and better material quality of regional life [IDH] have not functioned as antidotes to lethal homotransphobic violence.”said Alberto Schmitz, coordinator of the Luiz Mott Documentation Center of Grupo Dignidade de Curitiba.

São Paulo, with 34 deaths; Minas Gerais, with 30; Rio de Janeiro, with 28; Bahia, with 22; and Ceará, with 21, are the states that most concentrated violent deaths among the LGBT population last year.

Public policy

For the NGO, these numbers reinforce the urgency of effective public actions and policies to combat violence directed at the LGBTQIA+ community. Starting with the official accounting of these deaths.

“The Gay Group of Bahia has always requested or demanded that public authorities take charge of hate statistics towards LGBT, black and indigenous people. But, unfortunately, not even the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) included LGBTs in its census in a systematic and universal way, much less the police stations and Public Security secretariats were able to register, at a national level, all violence against harassment, bullying, beatings and deaths of LGBT people”Mott said.

The Bahia Gay Group emphasizes that it is important to clarify the deaths. “Unfortunately, the police authorities were able to elucidate the perpetrators of only 77 cases of violent deaths”the report said. “This situation reflects the lack of effective monitoring of homotransphobic violence by the Brazilian State, inevitably resulting in underreporting, representing only the visible tip of an iceberg of hatred and bloodshed.”

With information from Brazil Agency.