Systematic review of the characteristics of LGBT homicides

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population has long been excluded, a reality produced by social marginalization, which is still present in today's society. This article aims to present a quantitative profile of LGBT homicides, focusing on the crimes, victims, and perpetrators. We conducted a systematic review of quantitative studies on LGBT homicide using the following databases: PubMed Central (Medline), Latin American and Caribbean Center for Health Sciences Information (LILACS), Embase (Elsevier), Scopus (Elsevier), the Virtual Health Library (BVS), and APA PsycNet. The searches were run using terms taken from the Medical Subject Headings (MESHs) and Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS - BVS). Sixteen studies were included. Homicides tended to involve a single victim and single perpetrator and occur at the victim's residence or in public locations. Victims were more likely to be older than the perpetrator and offenders were usually unknown to the victim. Transgender people were the most affected group and most of the victims in this group were aged under 30 years. The findings of this review confirm that LGBT homicides may be considered "hate crimes" and that victims are generally killed with firearms or non-firearms, beaten to death or suffocated.