Brazil still ranks first among the nations with the highest number of murders of transgender people, with 80 recorded in 2025. The figures come from the latest edition of a dossier produced by the country’s National Association of Transvestites and Transgender People (ANTRA), released this week.

The result represents a drop of 34 percent from the previous year’s 122 murders – but does not remove Brazil from the top of the ranking, a position it has held for almost 18 years.

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The data are the reflection of an entire system that normalizes oppression against transgender people, said ANTRA’s President Bruna Benevides.

“These are not isolated deaths. They reveal a population exposed to extreme violence from an early age – lives marked by social exclusion, racism, institutional neglect, and ongoing psychological suffering,” she said.

Violence

The data for the study stem from the daily monitoring of news stories, direct complaints made to trans protection organizations, and public records. In Benevides’ view, this situation in itself casts light on a form of violence – if society does not do this work, the deaths simply do not exist in the eyes of the government.

In 2025, Ceará and Minas Gerais were the Brazilian states with the highest number of murders – eight each. Overall, violence remains concentrated in the Northeast region, which registered 38 murders, followed by the Southeast with 17, the Central-West with 12, the North with seven, and the South with six.

Another survey, also conducted by the association, covering from 2017 to 2025, showed the state of São Paulo as the most lethal, with 155 deaths. The study revealed that most of the victims are trans women, predominantly young, with the highest incidence in the 18–35 age group, with black and pardo people being the most affected.

The dossier also points out that, even though murders have decreased, there has been a surge in the number of attempted homicides. This means that the 34-percent drop from 2024 does not actually translate into a decline in violence.

In its analysis, the association says this scenario is explained by a set of factors such as underreporting, distrust of security and justice institutions, reduced media coverage, and the absence of specific public policies to combat transphobia – crimes of prejudice, discrimination, and hostility directed at transgender people.

Public policies 

In addition to the diagnosis, the dossier lists a number of recommendations to Brazilian public authorities, the justice system, public security, and human rights institutions, calling for dialogue and concrete proposals aimed at breaking the cycle of impunity and deprivation that marks the reality of transgender Brazilians.

Bruna Benevides, also an author of the dossier, believes that the association’s report “is an embarrassment to the state,” educates society, and breaks the silence.

“We must recognize that policies to protect women need to be accessible and available to transgender women, for instance. We need to think about making what already exists accessible and implementing what has not yet been properly achieved. There is a lot of production, including data, but a lack of action on the part of decision-makers,” she added.

The ninth edition of the report, entitled Dossiê: Assassinatos e Violências Contra Travestis e Transexuais Brasileiras (“Dossier: Murders and Violence Against Brazilian Transvestites and Transsexuals”) will be presented at a ceremony in the auditorium of the Ministry of Human Rights headquarters, with official delivery to representatives of the Brazilian federal government.

Violent deaths

The data released Monday reinforce the scenario outlined on January 18 by the Gay Group of Bahia (GGB) in the Observatory of Violent Deaths of LGBT+ People in Brazil, which is updated annually.

The figures – which cover not only trans people but also gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, among other groups – show that 257 violent deaths were documented in 2025, including 204 homicides, 20 suicides, 17 robberies followed by death, and 16 other cases, involving being hit by a vehicle or drowning, for example.

Compared to 2024, when 291 cases were recorded, a decrease of 11.7 percent was observed. However, this still translates to one death every 34 hours in the country.

Also according to the GGB, Brazil continued to be the country with the highest number of homicides and suicides of LGBT+ people worldwide last year – followed by Mexico with 40 and the US with 10.

*Trainee under the supervision of Mariana Tokarnia