Murders of LGBT people in Latin America and the Caribbean is a daily occurrence, according to a new report.
The Regional Information Network on Violence against LGBTI People in Latin America and the Caribbean found that four LGBT people are murdered a day in the two regions.
Furthermore, during the last five years a total of 1,300 queer people have been murdered in Colombia, Mexico, and Honduras, according to the network.
The network is a coalition of 10 LGBT organizations from the regions. Its goal is to raise awareness of the violence among governments and the general population.
Colombia, Mexico, and Honduras account for nearly 90% of all deaths, according to the network’s findings.
A majority of the victims were young gay men, 18 to 25 years of age, most likely murdered in their homes. The number of transgender women murdered in the streets closely followed.
Marcela Sanchez, head of Colombia Diversa, an LGBT organization based in Bogota, is a member of the network.
“Many of these deaths do not matter to anyone, not even to their own families,” she told Reuters.
The countries in the study have an overall high-level of crime and drug violence, with murder rates three times the global average of 6.1 per 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.
A trend in Bogota shows that gangs target gay men as they are believed to be wealthier than straight men, reported Reuters. In nearly 12% of the murders the victims knew their killer.
An additional factor the network couldn’t ignore was the rise of evangelical Christians, particularly in Central America, that espouse conservative values that are often anti-LGBT.
The report also highlighted progress made for LGBT rights — such as marriage equality and adoption — within the past decade. That didn’t change the reality that violence against the LGBT community remains rife, Reuters reported, citing the report.
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