The wave of attacks against trans women is increasing in Greater Asunción
Trans activist Yren Rotela reported that on Friday, October 27, four men in a white car fired an air rifle at a group of women who, excluded from the job market because of their gender identity, survive by working as sex workers in the town of San Lorenzo, in Greater Asunción. The incident occurred two weeks after the murder of Romina Vargas Florentín, a 28-year-old sex worker who was stabbed to death in the street in the same area.
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The murder of Romina Vargas Florentín, a 28-year-old sex worker, who was stabbed in the street in the same area.
“We were standing with a group of girls when a white car suddenly pulled up and a man with half his body outside started shooting steel pellets with an air rifle. We had to start running and look for somewhere to take refuge,” the activist, a leading figure in the Panambí Association of transvestites, transsexuals, and transgender people in Paraguay, told Presentes . The attack occurred between 9 and 10 p.m. at the corner of Cerro Cora and General Genes streets. None of the trans women were injured.
[READ ALSO: Paraguay: Trans people doubled their reports of violence]
Rotela said the vehicle could not be identified because it was a new car with temporary license plates. “They were mocking us, telling us he was going to kill us.”
Sub-Inspector Blas Calvete confirmed to Presentes that the complaint was filed last night at the First Police Station in San Lorenzo and was forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office. He reported that on Monday it will be determined which Prosecutor's Office will be assigned to the investigation.
Hate crimes without justice
A 21-year-old man was arrested for Romina's murder. He has a history of stabbing two other transgender women in the same area earlier in October. This case brings the total number of murders of transgender people in Paraguay to 58 since the end of Alfredo Stroessner's dictatorship in 1989. Most of these cases remain unsolved.
[READ ALSO: #Pride, pain and demands on the State at the 14th LGBTI march in Paraguay]
"There is an established hatred"
“They accuse us of attacking the traditional family and of wanting to educate children to be homosexual. There’s a pervasive hatred. The government’s ban on gender-related materials in primary and secondary schools, along with hate speeches by media personalities, generates these kinds of reactions,” Rotela said. She added, “In this context, we can’t do anything because the police aren’t doing their job.”
[READ ALSO: #Paraguay: the government banned content on gender in schools]
On Tuesday, October 30, LGBTQ+ organizations, students, and feminists joined together in Democracy Square in downtown Asunción to protest the erosion of rights under the slogan #GenderEqualityYes .
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