Share

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

By María Sanz, from Asunción.
This past year was a particularly violent one for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and transvestite people in Paraguay. While there are no official records of discrimination, assault, and murder cases—and the country lacks anti-discrimination legislation or laws aggravating gender-based penalties—LGBT civil society organizations keep their own tallies, exceeding 400 reports in 2017.
The wave of attacks coincided with a large demonstration in early October by ultraconservative groups calling themselves “pro-life” and “pro-family,” who defended traditional Catholic values ​​and heterosexual families. On the same day as the demonstration, the Minister of Education, Enrique Riera, banned the teaching of gender-related content in Paraguayan primary and secondary schools and offered to burn all educational materials on the subject in a public square.

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

The Aireana organization (Lesbian Rights Group) has a free telephone helpline: the Rohendu (“I listen to you”, in Guaraní). Between November 2016 and November 2017, Rohendu received a total of 203 phone calls, according to the Codehupy report.

[READ ALSO: A voice on the phone against discrimination]

Of these calls, 20 were related to discrimination and violence within families, including cases of isolation, communication restrictions, and other forms of psychological, physical, or sexual violence against LGBTQ+ adolescents who are dependent on their families of origin. They also received four calls about violence against LGBTQ+ people in the street or in public spaces, and two calls about arbitrary police arrests of gay or lesbian couples or transgender people. Nine other calls were related to workplace and educational discrimination, including dismissals and harassment based on sexual orientation.

[READ ALSO: The wave of attacks against trans women in Greater Asunción is increasing]

For its part, the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Complaints Center, which also has a telephone hotline, received a total of 218 complaints of discrimination between January and October 2017, 58 of which were cases of discrimination against transgender people, and 27 against men who have sex with men.
Between the two organizations, they recorded a total of 421 complaints throughout the year.
Activists Rosa Posa of Aireana and Yren Rotela of Panambí ( Association of Transvestites, Transsexuals, and Transgender People of Paraguay ), along with activist Erwing Augsten of the Mansión 108 collective, prepared a report on cases of violence, discrimination, and setbacks in the rights of LGBTI people in Paraguay throughout 2017. This report is included in the chapter dedicated to the rights of LGBTI people in the annual report of the Paraguayan Human Rights Coordinator (Codehupy) , which was presented on December 11.

Trans-femicide of Romina Vargas

Romina Vargas was a 28-year-old trans woman. Due to her gender identity, she had been excluded from the labor market and worked as a sex worker in the town of San Lorenzo, in Greater Asunción.
On October 15, 2017, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Romina went out to find something to eat with a friend. A man approached her and, without saying a word, stabbed her in the chest. Romina was taken to the Calle'i Maternal and Child Hospital, where doctors confirmed that she had died. The organization Panambí held the Paraguayan state and fundamentalist groups calling themselves “pro-life” responsible for this murder, for “continuing to sow hatred and violence with their rhetoric that legitimizes and promotes these violent acts.”

[READ ALSO: Transfemicide in Greater Asunción: a 28-year-old trans woman was murdered]

The femicide of Romina, a trans woman, became the 59th murder of a trans person since the fall of the dictatorship in Paraguay in 1989. Most of these cases remain unsolved.
The confessed perpetrator was a 21-year-old man, Blas Enrique Amarilla Bobadilla. In statements to the media, Amarilla admitted to the murder, claiming he was motivated by hatred toward trans people. Amarilla was also linked to the attacks against Maira Bordón and Sheyla Brítez, which occurred days before Romina's femicide. He is currently being held in pretrial detention at the Tacumbú prison in Asunción.

Reported attacks against LGBTI people in 2017

-February 10. Radio host Karen Ovando reported via her Twitter account that several users in a group chat threatened to rape her, supposedly to "correct" her sexual orientation, given that she is a lesbian. The organization Tedic (Technology and Community) echoed the report and presented the case as an example of online violence against women and LGBTQ+ people. In October, Karen married her partner, illustrator Leda Sostoa, in Argentina, and both were again subjected to online harassment due to their sexual orientation, as reflected in media coverage of their wedding. In November, Karen shared her experience of cyberviolence based on her sexual orientation in a video released ahead of November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
-March 31. The violent protests against the presidential reelection in downtown Asunción resulted in dozens of people injured by police repression, more than 200 arrests—who reported torture and cruel treatment—the burning of part of the Paraguayan Congress building, and the death of Rodrigo Quintana, an opposition activist, at the hands of police in what appears to be an extrajudicial execution. In this context, at least two police officers went to the vicinity of the Hollywood , a popular spot for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, located two blocks from the Liberal Party headquarters, where Quintana was killed.
According to anonymous testimonies included in the Codehupy report, officers physically and verbally assaulted several people at the nightclub entrance, attacking them with rubber bullets and batons. Some even reported being threatened with firearms and attacked with pressurized water from water cannons. Several transgender people who were victims of the attacks admitted that they did not go to the nearest hospital for treatment of their injuries for fear of being arrested.

– July 9. A 17-year-old boy was the victim of a brutal sexual assault in a rural area of ​​Caaguazú (central Paraguay). He was found unconscious in a sugarcane field, with a skull fracture and a broken jaw. The boy was discriminated against at school because of his sexual orientation, and it is presumed that the sexual assault was an attempt at “corrective rape.” Two men were arrested in connection with these events.
– August 29. Karina Fernández, a 23-year-old trans woman, was arrested near the Asunción bus terminal, where she worked as a sex worker due to a lack of other employment options. The police officers who arrested her accused her of participating in an alleged robbery in the area, and during her transport in the police vehicle, Karina was subjected to torture and physical and psychological abuse. She was detained until September 6, when she was released after reporting the torture and following the intervention of Panambí and the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, a state agency.

[READ ALSO: “Faced with the crisis, prejudice and repression against the LGBTI population”]

– September 16. Yren Rotela, a trans activist and leader of the Panambí organization, was attacked by four men who also attempted to beat her. Rotela managed to reach her vehicle and escape. This occurred in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción).
– September 17. Nicol Rojas, a young trans sex worker, was punched in the face by an unknown assailant, who was not apprehended. Rojas had to flee her workplace for fear of further attacks.
– September 25. Maira Bordón, a 28-year-old trans woman, was attacked with a knife by an unknown assailant, who left her with a cut on her neck.
– September 27. Three trans women who were in a public place were verbally assaulted by an unknown young man.

– October 3. Maira Bordón was stabbed in the abdomen and chest while in a public place and was taken to a hospital in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción).
– October 6. Sheyla Brítez, a 20-year-old trans woman, was stabbed ten times all over her body and suffered a large cut to her forehead. She had to be hospitalized. Sheyla identified the perpetrator as Blas Enrique Amarilla Bobadilla, 21. It happened in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción).
– October 15. Romina Vargas, a 28-year-old trans woman, was stabbed to death in the chest while on a street in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción). The confessed perpetrator of the crime is Blas Enrique Amarilla Bobadilla, who is also linked to the attacks against Sheyla Brítez and Maira Bordón.
– October 27. Four men in a white car fired an air rifle at several trans women who were working as sex workers in San Lorenzo (Greater Asunción). None of them were injured.