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By Airam Fernández

Carolina Torres Urbina, 24, is hospitalized in serious condition at the Public Assistance Emergency Hospital – known as Posta Central – in Santiago, after a brutal hate crime: two men, while she was walking with her girlfriend, struck her on the head with a stick, causing a skull fracture. The attack occurred in the early hours of Thursday, February 14.

The attack occurred near a pub in the Pudahuel district on Wednesday night, the 13th, where Torres had been watching a soccer match with her partner. According to the victim's family, who spoke to Presentes, they were walking home holding hands when they encountered two men. One of them confronted her, saying, "I finally found you, faggot," recounted Marianela Urbina, the victim's mother, who is currently in intensive care in critical condition due to internal bleeding. "When he said that, one of them attacked her, hitting her with a stick. The other finished her off by kicking her repeatedly in the back," Urbina explained.

Organizations are calling for a demonstration today at 6 p.m. in front of the Central Post Office. “For the past three years, the lesbian, bisexual, and trans community has experienced a sustained increase in violence based on our sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, with the latter being the primary motivation for aggressors to commit hate crimes, corrective rapes, or street harassment. This is particularly prevalent in the outlying districts of Santiago and in rural areas, where we have observed coordinated groups attacking women because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” stated activists from the Lesbian Group Breaking the Silence in a press release. They added: “The invasion of our bodies and the interference in our decisions as women free in our sexuality bothers and enrages those who, from a position of machismo and patriarchy, want to subject us to a heteronormative regime that violates our sexual and reproductive rights to decide about our affections, lifestyle, and how we express them.”

Today at 6 PM at the Posta Central hospital, we'll be putting up banners and showing support for a young lesbian woman who was hospitalized after being severely beaten because of her sexual orientation. The event is being organized by groups such as Agrupación Rompiendo el Silencio, Visibles, and Abofem, among others. pic.twitter.com/3bBxJe7oY6

— Acuarela Foundation (@FAcuarela) February 15, 2019

Erika Montecinos, general coordinator of the lesbian group Rompiendo el Silencio (Breaking the Silence): “The rally we've organized is in support of Carolina, but it's also to raise awareness of the increase in hate crimes and lesbophobic attacks, which have been steadily rising for the past three years. And also because we want to declare ourselves on alert, because the response to our open displays of affection and our decision to be seen with our partners in public, just like any heterosexual couple, cannot be more attacks and aggression.”

#Chile Two attacks on gay men in one day: boiling water and stones

The attackers had already insulted her

The victim's partner recounted the beating at two police stations and two hospitals before arriving at the emergency room. "His girlfriend saw everything; they didn't do anything to her, but fortunately, in the midst of what was happening, she was able to alert us," said the mother. She also stated that they had encountered the same assailants on a bus on previous occasions, and that they had harassed her with insults.

While Torres was being treated at the first hospital they could get her to, her family and her partner, acting as a witness, tried to file a formal complaint with the Investigations Police (PDI) in Pudahuel. According to them, the officers refused to take it because they didn't have a medical report to substantiate the assault. Faced with this situation, they went to the 55th Police Station of the Carabineros (Chilean National Police) in Pudahuel Sur, where their complaint was taken. Urbina stated that despite emphasizing that it was a lesbophobic attack, the case was classified as "serious injuries."

Faced with the delays in the legal process and the inability to file a formal complaint within the first 12 hours after the crime, the family contacted the Iguales Foundation for help and legal advice. “We are taking steps to find a lawyer who can handle the case, file a lawsuit, and support Carolina and her family throughout the entire legal process to find those responsible for this brutal attack,” Juan Enrique Pi, executive president of the foundation, told Presentes.