Transfemicide

See also: Femicide and Transgender genocide

Protester at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina holding a placard with the words: "Stop the Travesticides! Transfemicides! Transhomicides!".

Transfemicide or transfeminicide is defined as the killing of a trans woman motivated by transphobic, misogynistic and transmisogynistic hatred that has its origins in cissexist cultural and political norms.^[1] The term is most often used as a subset of femicide, a theoretical and legal concept describing the murder of women and girls by men on the basis of sexist beliefs and norms.^[2] Journalists and academics alike believe the prevalence of transfemicide to be vastly underreported.^[3] Journalists Emma Landeros and Joel Aguirre argue that, as hate crimes, transfemicides constitute a 'silent epidemic' in Mexico, with many deaths receiving little or no media coverage.^[4]

Under Transgender Europe, or TGEU, the Trans Murder Monitoring project reported 281 trans and gender-diverse people murdered in 2025 alone, with 90% of those killed being trans women. Notably, sex workers comprised 34% of these deaths, with most of the overall deaths occurring in Latin America.^[5]

Historical usage

Femicide, understood as the intentional killing of a woman by a man motivated by misogynistic hatred, was established by Diana Russell and Jane Caputi and later popularized in Latin America by Marcela Lagarde.^[6] Transfemicide, however, is a term generally attributed to transfeminist activists in Latin America, who sought to describe the heighted structural violence trans women in the region face by expanding the concept of femicide.^[7][2] Academic and assistant professor of Gender and Postcolonial Studies Ana Maria Miranda Mora argues that legislation against femicide, in applying strict interpretations of gender-based violence, has at the same time reproduced violence by making the experiences of trans women and queer cisgender women invisible.^[8][6]

Legal views

The Human Rights Watch, in their report on violence against LGBT people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, note that Central American governments have long excluded transgender women from preexisting legal structures meant to prosecute femicides. Guatemalan officials have justified this by stating that transgender women are not "biological women" in their eyes and therefore their murders are not covered by such laws.^[7]

In the case of Vicky Hernández v Honduras, tried before Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization and Red Lésbica Cattrachas successfully argued that the government of Honduras held responsibility for the death of trans activist and sex worker Vicky Hernández. The result of the case was seen as a landmark ruling establishing a powerful precedent for the defense of transgender women and LGBT Latin Americans broadly.^[9][10]

By region

North America

United States

Further information: Transgender rights in the United States and Hate crimes against transgender people in the United States

On December 24, 2024, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order establishing a "Transfemicide Working Group", specifically mentioning Black trans women and the heightened discrimination and violence they face.^[11] In Puerto Rico, the 2020 murder of Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, also known as Alexa, sparked outrage among Puerto Rican activists. They saw the police and media misgendering Neulisa as downplaying the transphobic nature of the killing.^[12] In response to media coverage of Nuelisa’s killing, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny wore a shirt with the words "They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt" during a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.^[13]

Mexico

Further information: Femicide in Mexico and Transgender rights in Mexico

In Mexico, only five states recognize transfemicide as a distinct legal category, with Nayarit being the earliest to implement such a law on March 1, 2024.^[14] In 2024, activists successfully pushed the Mexico City legislature to legally recognize transfemicides after the 2016 murder of trans sex worker Paola Buenrostro. Known as the "Paola Buenrostro law", the legislation makes the killing of a transgender woman a crime punishable by up to 70 years in prison.^[15]

Mexico has one of the highest rates of transfemicides in the world. Letra Ese, an organization tracking hate crimes, reported 55 transfemicides in 2024, making Mexico one of the deadliest countries in the world for transgender women.^[16]

South America

Argentina

Signage saying "Stop with the transfemicides and travesticides!" at a 2018 protest in response to the transfemicide of Cynthia Moreira in Tucumán, Argentina.

Further information: Transgender rights in Argentina and LGBTQ rights in Argentina

In October 2017, Azul Montoro, an Argentinian sex worker, was murdered in the city of Córdoba. In the days after her death, the Asociación de Travestis, Transexuales y Transgéneros de Argentina (Association of Travestis, Transsexuals, and Transgenders of Argentina) or ATTTA, demanded justice for Azul and mobilized protests and candlelight vigils. The perpetrator was eventually found guilty under the nation's femicide law, a historic first for Argentina.^[17][18]

Colombia

Further information: Transgender rights in Colombia and LGBTQ rights in Colombia

In Colombia, cases of transfemicide are covered under section 104A: "Feminicidio" (Femicide) of the Colombian legal code.^[19] Specifically, the law states that killings motivated by a [trans] woman's gender-identity, along with the circumstances of the victim's relationship to the perpetrator, constitute femicide.^[20] In 2023, a total of 41 transgender women were killed, many as a result of what are referred to as "social cleansing" campaigns taken on by ultraconservative armed groups in Colombia who seek to terrorize LGBTQ Colombians.^[21] Despite relatively progressive policies regarding gender and sexual minorities, and the existence of the "Feminicidio" Law, many transfemicides continue to go unpunished.^[22]

Activism

Ni Una Menos (Not One Less)

A set of cans forming the words "Ni una menos" (Not one less) in Argentina.

Ni Una Menos is a Latin American feminist movement that started in Argentina as a rallying slogan against femicide and misogynistic violence.^[23] Starting as a movement decrying violence against women in general, transgender activists have adopted it to protest against transfemicides. Peruvian activist group Féminas rallied around the slogan "Ni Una Trans Menos" (Not One Trans [Woman] Less) to protest a lack of protections against transphobic violence.^[24] In a New York Times interview, feminist theorist and philosopher Judith Butler argues that the Ni Una Menos movement is a broadly inclusive movement in Latin America made up of a diverse group of women, both cisgender and transgender, seeking and end to the killings people "who are feminized or regarded as feminine".^[25]

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR)

Biden-Harris team in 2020 commemorating Trans Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance, or TDoR, is a day of observation celebrated yearly on November 20th memorializing the deaths of transgender people as a result of transphobia. The tradition was started by a small group of transgender people in 1999 who wanted to honor the life of their friend, Rita Hester, who was killed in 1998.^[26] In the United States, the Joe Biden administration released yearly press memos commemorating TDoR. The administration's November 20, 2023 release states that, of the 26 transgender Americans killed that year, "[...] the majority of those targeted [were transgender] women of color".^[27]

See also

• Transphobia
• Transfeminism
• Violence against transgender people
• Transmisogyny
• Travesti
• Femicide in Latin America

References

1. Valencia, Sayak; Falcón, Liliana; Mendoza, Alan (2023-04-20), "Continuities and Discontinuities Between the Concepts of Feminicide and Transfeminicide in Mexico", The Routledge International Handbook of Femicide and Feminicide (1 ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 380–389, doi:10.4324/9781003202332-40, ISBN 978-1-003-20233-2, retrieved 2025-11-30
2. "¿Qué es el transfeminicidio? Uno de los delitos que poco se nombran". El Financiero (in Spanish). 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
3. Graham, Thomas (2024-07-24). "Transfemicide becomes a crime in a 'watershed' moment for Mexico City". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
4. Linares, César López (2025-07-17). "Journalists investigate 'silent epidemic' of transfemicide in Mexico". LatAm Journalism Review by the Knight Center. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
5. "Trans Murder Monitoring 2025 reveals new trend in anti-trans violence: Systematic targeting of activists and movement leaders". TGEU - Trans Europe and Central Asia. 2025-11-12. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
6. Mora, Ana Maria Miranda (2022-12-07). "The Normative Dilemmas of the Feminist Struggles Against (Trans-)Feminicide in Mexico". FEMINA POLITICA. 31 (2): 29–41. doi:10.3224/feminapolitica.v31i2.03.
7. Ghoshal, Neela (2020-10-07). ""Every Day I Live in Fear"". Human Rights Watch.
8. "Dr. Ana Miranda Mora". Utrecht University (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2025-05-23. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
9. "Fighting transfemicide in the Americas". www.ibanet.org. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
10. "International Court Rules in Favor of Trans Rights in Honduras". The New York Times. 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
11. "Mayor Brandon Johnson Signs Executive Order to Establish Transfemicide Working Group". www.chicago.gov. Archived from the original on 2025-07-13. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
12. "Killing of Transgender Homeless Woman Sparks Outrage in Puerto Rico". The New York Times. 2020-02-26. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
13. Rivera, Harmeet Kaur,Rafy (2020-02-29). "A transgender woman's brutal murder has shocked Puerto Rico and renewed a conversation about transphobia". CNN. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
14. Escándala (2025-07-04). "¡Y vamos por más! Ya son cinco estados los que tipifican el transfeminicidio en México". Escandala (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-11-30.
15. "Trans killings now punishable by up to 70 years in Mexico City". France 24. 2024-07-18. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
16. "Crímenes de Odio archivo". LetraEse (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-11-30.
17. Brollo, María Daniela (2022-12-29). ""Para que haya cada vez menos en ese altar": Repertorios públicos de duelo por un transfemicidio en la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina". Cadernos de Campo (São Paulo - 1991) (in Spanish). 31 (2) e199966. doi:10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v31i2pe199966. ISSN 2316-9133.
18. "El cruel final de "Azul" en su departamento". DEBATE (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
19. "Leyes desde 1992 - Vigencia expresa y control de constitucionalidad [LEY_1761_2015]". www.secretariasenado.gov.co. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
20. Florez, Maria Camila Correa (2024). "Femicide and Transfemicide in Colombian Criminal Law". Derecho Penal y Criminologia (in Spanish). 45 (119): 51–71 – via HeinOnline.
21. Garzón, Natalia Torres (2024-07-30). "'We are killed for what we are': trans women in Colombia targeted by armed groups". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
22. Anoushfar, Caitlin Stephen Hu, Stefano Pozzebon, Ladan (2025-08-06). "Viral video of her torture shocked Colombia. The killings didn't stop there". CNN. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
23. Diaz, Jaclyn (2021-10-15). "How #NiUnaMenos grew from the streets of Argentina into a regional women's movement". NPR. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
24. Froio, Nicole (2023-06-06). "Féminas Perú Says 'Ni Una Menos' to Lima's Trans Femicide Crisis". Them. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
25. "Opinion | Judith Butler: When Killing Women Isn't a Crime". The New York Times. 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
26. "Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR)". GLAAD. 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
27. "Statement from President Joe Biden on Transgender Day of Remembrance". whitehouse.gov. 2023-11-20. Retrieved 2025-12-01.