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The rise in violence against LGBTQ+ people and the lack of state policies are evident in the report “A System That Is Failing: Prejudice, Violence, and Impunity Against LGBTQ+ People in Colombia,” prepared by the organization Caribe Afirmativo. The document shows that in 2025, an LGBTQ+ person was murdered every 32 hours, totaling 270 in a single year. Thus, it confirms that “the violence is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather systematic and persistent.”

“We issue this report to denounce impunity, to build collective memory, and to call for the development of public policies,” Agencia PresentesWilson Castañeda Castro, director of Caribe Informativo. “We produce this report annually, triangulating and verifying the information with the relevant authorities to analyze the causes of the violence,” he added. 

The figure of 270 homicides represents an increase compared to 2024, when 165 homicides were recorded. In 2023, 153 homicides were committed. The report indicates that themost frequent form of violence was domestic violence, with 1,531 cases registered. Other reported incidents included 1,184 threats, 628 sexual offenses, 360 discriminatory acts, 108 cases of police violence, 17 cases of enforced disappearance, 10 cases of human trafficking, and 3 cases of forced recruitment. 

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Domestic violence 

“Among the specific warnings in the report, the first concerns the extremely high level of domestic violence in the country. This violence demonstrates that homes, houses, and family relationships are not—or not in all cases—safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people,” explains Castañeda Castro. 

“The 1,531 cases nationwide during 2025 show, in some cases, aggressions committed by fathers, mothers, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers, and guardians. And in other cases, by permanent partners.”

Of the total cases registered, 469 victims were lesbian women and 458 were bisexual women. This shows that more than 60% of the victims belonged to these population groups. There were 399 cases against gay men,109 against bisexual men, 15 against trans women, 16 against trans men , and 3 against non-binary people.

Regarding the territory, the report shows that violence is not limited to places with low institutionalization, but persists even in cities with greater institutional capacities and care pathways.

Sexual violence also increased

Another key concern raised by this comprehensive report is sexual violence. A total of 628 cases were reported. Castañeda Castro explains, “The most affected were lesbian and bisexual women. This means that, in addition to being a repugnant act of violence, in these cases it is also laden with a very high level of stigma, contempt, and discrimination against the bodies of gender and sexually diverse people.” 

Of the total cases, 246 victims were bisexual women, 159 lesbian women, 126 gay men, 49 trans men, 25 trans women, and 16 bisexual men. The analysis concludes that these acts of violence operate as mechanisms of bodily control and punishment against non-normative sexual identities and orientations.

Another form of violence in Colombia: threats

were documentedvictims of threats , and it is currently one of the main forms of violence against LGBTIQ+ people. Bogotá DC. The report concludes that threats function as mechanisms of territorial control and social discipline. 

“We are drawing attention to the increase in threats against LGBT people in our country who openly express their activism or membership in the LGBTQ+ community. These 1,184 threats against LGBTIQ+ individuals during 2025 are not isolated incidents. They are related to territorial control practices by state and non-state actors seeking to regulate the visibility of LGBTIQ+ people, and which sometimes precede other, more serious crimes such as homicides and femicides,” explains the director of Caribe Informativo. 

Digital environments are no longer a safe space

The report, “A System That Is Failing: Prejudice, Violence, and Impunity Against LGBTIQ+ People,” reveals the rise in digital violence against sexual minorities. Towards the end, it even offers a series of recommendations to prevent this violence from escalating into physical violence. 

“The LGBTIQ+ movement has largely been built in cyberspace, and violence has moved into cyberspace. And so far, we haven't found that digital service providers, much less the State, are protecting these spaces with security mechanisms that don't jeopardize privacy,” explains Wilson Castañeda Castro. 

She explains that there are also no systems in place to ensure safe navigation in online spaces such as WhatsApp groups, social media, or dating platforms. “There is an increase in violent practices that endanger the lives of LGBTQ+ people and that often serve as a prelude to other types of violence that ultimately destroy their lives.” 

Homicides are multiplying 

In total, 270 LGBTIQ+ people were murdered during the year. The majority of these murders were concentrated in large urban centers such as Bogotá and Medellín, but, the report states, “they are also spreading to territories with a presence of armed groups and illegal economies.”

“We are extremely concerned about the homicide cases. The figures show that in this country, roughly every 32 hours, there is a murder of an LGBTQ+ person, with a disproportionate impact on gay men and trans women, and with extremely high levels of cruelty in the acts that annihilate the lives of diverse gender and sexual orientations,” Wilson explains. 

“This violence is concentrated mainly in our large cities, such as the department of Antioquia, whose capital is Medellín, the department of Valle, whose capital is Cali, and our capital city, Bogotá. But it has also increased in recent years in strategic corridors of micro-trafficking and illegal armed groups that continue to commit crimes in Colombia, and these areas are related to their proximity to geographically strategic locations,” he added. 

The lack of state response 

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Peace Agreement in Colombia. The report, Wilson Castañeda Castro explains to Presentes, reveals a structural problem that, far from being resolved, has worsened. He also emphasized that this situation persists despite commitments made by both the Public Prosecutor's Office and the government to develop more robust and effective information systems to identify these forms of violence. 

“We are seeing extremely high levels of wear and tear on information systems, extremely high levels of underreporting, and extremely high levels of laxity in information management. This means that almost only civil society organizations are carrying out this documentation work, and that the State needs a solid tool that allows it to prevent problems by understanding the reality.”

What the report reveals 

The more than 200-page report concludes with a series of recommendations to prevent and eradicate the high level of violence against LGBT people. These recommendations focus on prevention, protection, research, and structural public policy.

“We are focusing on three very specific issues. First, to remember all the people we lost, who disappeared, who were victims of violence, and who were threatened. And whose quality of life deteriorated in 2025. Second, we are presenting this report as a formal request to the State to expedite the investigation processes. And on the other hand, to activate prevention measures through public policy mechanisms,” Castañeda Castro stated. 

“Thirdly, we are presenting this within the framework of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, to call on Colombian society not to be indifferent to this violence. And to demand that this country, which is building peace, guarantee that this step towards peace also means dignifying the lives of LGBTQ+ people.”