By María Sanz, from Asunción

Photos: Jess Infrán Trans activists, sex workers and feminists gathered today in front of the Paraguayan Prosecutor's Office to demand justice after the murder of Romina Vargas, a 28-year-old trans woman who was stabbed on Sunday in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción).

Romina was murdered this Sunday in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción). She had gone out with a friend to get something to eat when she was attacked by a man who stabbed her in the chest and then wounded her friend. The young woman was taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed that she had died.

The alleged killer of Romina, a 21-year-old man, was arrested shortly after the attack. He was carrying a bloody knife hidden in his pants. He had a prior record for attacking two other transgender women in the same area in early October. In statements to the media, he confessed, smiling and without shame, that he had stabbed Romina and that he hates transgender people. He was charged with intentional homicide and transferred to the Emboscada prison, about 40 kilometers from Asunción, to be held in pretrial detention.

“They kill us and nobody goes to jail”

The activists carried signs demanding an end to trans femicides and hate speech. In front of the Public Prosecutor's Office, they unfurled a banner with the slogan of the campaign against impunity for trans murders: "They kill us and no one goes to jail."

With chants like “Sir, Madam, don’t be indifferent; trans women are being killed right in front of everyone,” “Not one less, we want to live,” and “We are not all here, 59 are missing,” the activists remembered their fellow victims of femicide. At one point during the gathering, they read the names of the latest victims of these crimes as a tribute.

[READ ALSO: Pride, pain and demands on the State at the 14th LGBTI march in Paraguay]

Trans activists demanded that Romina's alleged killer remain in prison, as he threatened to continue killing trans people if he had the chance . However, Rotela warned that trans women incarcerated at the Emboscada prison could be in danger if the accused is transferred to the same facility. Therefore, they demanded special security measures for them.

In Paraguay, transgender women deprived of their liberty are held in male-only wings or prisons, despite having assumed a female gender identity. Some of them face “different forms of violence and discrimination ranging from physical and verbal assaults to multiple rapes,” James Cavallaro, the rapporteur for the rights of persons deprived of liberty of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), in 2014

"The state has the possibility of providing reparations to trans people."

“We demand that Romina’s case be brought to trial, and that the perpetrator receive the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, plus 10 years of security measures. The State, through the Justice system, has the opportunity to finally provide redress for trans people. Otherwise, they will continue killing us for the rest of our lives, and those responsible will remain unpunished,” Yren Rotela , a trans rights activist, told Presentes

With Romina's death, the number of trans women murdered since the end of the Paraguayan dictatorship in 1989 Although most of these cases remain unsolved, trans activists believe that Romina's murder could become the first transfemicide in Paraguay to result in a conviction and a sentence being enforced, given that a perpetrator has already confessed to the crime.

[READ ALSO: Paraguay: Trans people doubled their reports of violence]

Demanding justice for this crime, activists from trans people's organizations, such as Panambí or Transitar, and also from lesbian organizations (Aireana), sex workers (Unidas en la Esperanza) and self-organized feminists gathered today in front of the Paraguayan Prosecutor's Office.

Climate of hate

Trans activists agreed that Romina's murder, and the two previous attacks against trans women, are influenced by the "climate of hate" being promoted by fundamentalist religious groups in recent weeks.

[READ ALSO: “Paraguay assumed an active role against LGBTI rights at the OAS Assembly”]

The latest protests by these ultraconservative groups led the Minister of Education, Enrique Riera, to ban the teaching of content on gender equality in schools. Riera also offered to burn any books containing information on this topic.

[READ ALSO: #Paraguay: the government banned content on gender in schools]

“This cold-blooded murder, these hate crimes, are thanks to the manipulation of those who talk about a ‘gender ideology.’ And thanks to that, we lost a 28-year-old colleague who had so much life ahead of her. It’s a very low blow to the community,” Alicia Muñoz, a member of Panambí, told Presentes.

Rotela, for her part, recalled that it has been almost a year since transgender women in Paraguay were excluded from the comprehensive law on protection against violence against women. This occurred just after bishops and fundamentalist groups pressured to remove the word "gender" from the entire text of the law.

“One year later we still have to mourn the violence, the murder,” the activist emphasized.

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