A trans activist was attacked in Buenos Aires and the police did not respect her identity.
In the early hours of Saturday, trans activist Yhajaira Falcon was attacked by three young men in the Chacarita neighborhood, two blocks from her home.
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Early Saturday morning, trans activist Yhajaira Falcon was attacked by three young men in the Chacarita neighborhood, two blocks from her home. “I was walking down the street and three guys started yelling all sorts of things at me: fucking faggot, among other insults. I kept walking and they came and beat me up and stole my money and cigarettes,” she told Presentes. The activist filed a police report at precinct 15.
Yhajaira, who works in the Program Against Institutional Violence at the Public Defender's Office of the City of Buenos Aires, saw a patrol car and started shouting: “I managed to get their attention and they came over. I told the police officers (both male and female) what was happening to me, and they wanted to put me in the patrol car instead of the assailant. They didn't respect my identity; they kept calling me ' young man .' Finally, they arrested one of the attackers, but they didn't even go after the others. I'm also going to file a complaint for institutional violence; they said my employee ID was fake,” she added.
Photo: Ariel Gutraich
Trans activist Violeta Alegre went to the police station to accompany her and call an ambulance. “Yhajaira was covered in blood and trembling. At Tornú Hospital, they attended to us quite quickly, but in a very poor manner,” Alegre told Presentes.
"At the hospital and with the police, everything was mistreatment. I feel very bad," she told Presentes.
[READ ALSO: Being trans and living on the street: a reality that multiplies violence]
“We are truly tired of being subjected to violence. While they say ‘the streets are screwed up for everyone,’ I know that violence, which can begin with insults about our identities and end in beatings, robberies, or the murders of trans women and trans people, has its own particularities. Depending on how we react, everything gets worse. Our identities give them the right to say whatever they want to us, followed by who knows what else. They insult us, rob us, beat us, or kill us. They know that very few people support, protect, or stand with us, and that's how society enables them to discard us,” said Violeta Alegre.
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