It took place in her house and was committed by someone she knew. The murder of Julia Nicoly Moreira da Silva, a licensed practical nurse, in July 2023 added to a number that is rising again in Brazil: at least 145 trans people were murdered in the country in 2023, according to a new report released by the National Association of Transvestite and Transgender People (Antra, in Portuguese) on January 29. The figure shows an average of one murder every three days. In 2022, the total number of transgender killings was 131, about 10% less than last year.
Julia Nicoly was a 34-year-old woman at the time of the crime and represents some of the most common profiles of victims in Brazil, according to Antra. Most of the victims are trans women like her. Almost 80% die before 35 years old. Also, most of the crimes are committed with excessive use of violence and with refinements of cruelty, as seen in Julia’s case.
Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police Station investigated the crime as a femicide case. The suspect, a 19-year-old man, was arrested a month after the murder, which was carried out with the help of a teenager who was 17 at the time. In the complaint, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ, in Portuguese) emphasized that "the crime was committed for a futile reason since the suspect was driven by hatred for the victim because she was transgender."
When contacted by Pública, the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police said "there are ongoing investigations to arrest another criminal involved."
It was the 7th edition of the report by Antra, which collects data on the murder of trans people in Brazil since 2017. The report collects official government data, such as Dial 100 and the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) of the Ministry of Health, besides public security agencies, legal proceedings and cases in the media.
Murders of trans people in Rio de Janeiro e Paraná double in a year
The state that recorded the highest number of transgender murders in 2023 was São Paulo, with 19 cases. However, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná stand out among those with the biggest increase in killings since 2022. In both states, the number of murders doubled from one year to the next.
In Rio, where Julia Nicoly Moreira da Silva lived, there were 16 homicides in 2023, compared to eight in 2022. Asked about what public policies are aimed at the transvestite, transgender and non-binary population, the Rio de Janeiro Public Security Institute (ISP, in Portuguese) replied that it works to promote and guarantee the rights of the LGBTQIAP+ population through social programs. "Currently, Rio Sem LGBTIfobia [Rio without LGBTIphobia] has 20 LGBTI Citizenship Centers, which offer all the necessary support [to this group] with social and psychological care, as well as legal accompaniment for the cases that need it," said the agency. Read the full press release here.
Gab Van, 35, is an activist and the director of the Trans and Transvestite March of Rio de Janeiro. According to him, the lack of public policies and the conservatism encouraged by the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) have contributed to an increase in the number of transvestites and transgender people killed in the state, as a consequence of inciting hate speech.
"There's no way of saying that these killings [of trans and transvestite people] haven't increased due to the hatred that the last government left behind," said the director, about what might explain the rise in murders in the state. "Most of these crimes happened in Baixada [Fluminense], in places far from the city center and where society wasn’t taught [about gender identity]," Gab added.
To Gab, the vulnerability of the trans, transvestite and non-binary community is not only linked to a lack of access to public policies but also to the way people identify themselves. "When we say 'vulnerable body', we're not talking [exclusively] about poor people, but people who, no matter how much they've studied or how grounded they are, their bodies are still vulnerable," he said.
In Paraná state, trans people homicides rose from six to 12 from 2022 to 2023.
"The committee of the LGBT population of Paraná state has made demands to improve the identification of violence, so perhaps the result reflects this improvement. However, Paraná has a very long history of conservatism. The governor supports former president Bolsonaro. So it's not difficult to imagine a relationship between this number and a conservative and violent discourse," criticizes the national coordinator of the Brazilian Institute of Transmasculinities (Ibratin Portuguese), Fabian Algarte, who lives in Paraná.
Pública reached out to the state's Public Security Secretariat (SSP), under Governor Ratinho Junior (PSD), for a response on what public policies exist to reduce the deaths of transgender, transvestites and non-binary people, but there was no reply by the time this report was published.
The states of Piauí and Rondônia also had twice as many deaths from one year to the next, but both recorded a single case in 2022.
In Brazil as a whole, Antra recorded 36 homicides of trans people under 18 in the last seven years. Almost 80% of the victims were under 35 years old.
In addition, most victims are transgender women, and the average number of Black trans people murdered is 78.7% of the total.
According to Gab Van, Brazil is a racist country, which is reflected in the high mortality rate of Black trans people. Regarding the scenario in Rio de Janeiro, the activist points out that "The Rio de Janeiro Public Security project is [to] kill young Black people, regardless of whether they are cisgender or transgender."
Lack of public data makes difficult access information on violence against trans people
The rise in homicides targeting trans people in Brazil, as shown by Antra, contrasts with the general forecast of homicides in the country for 2023. According to the Ministry of Public Security, the number of murders in Brazil decreased by 6% compared to 2022.
The document also shows there is a blank space in public records when looking at data on crimes committed against trans people. “As has been insistently denounced since the report's first edition, the lack of government data is a serious problem that must be solved. Data on this kind of violence is still non-existent or insufficient compared to what is reported by news channels," the text emphasizes.
Despite the data on crimes, the report mentions the recreation of the National Council for the Rights of LGBTQIA+ people, a new working group in the Ministry of Health to review health policies for the transgender community and the creation of a national strategy to tackle violence against LGBTQIA+ people, among other actions, as positive measures. Besides, in 2024, it will be celebrated 20 years of transgender visibility in the country.
