Two trans women attacked in one week: gunshots and bottles thrown at them
Pride Month ended with two hate crimes against transgender people in Paraguay. Barbi Aquino was shot in the arm in the early hours of June 27, and Andrea Casanova was attacked with a glass bottle on June 29.
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By Juliana Quintana. Pride Month ended with two hate crimes against transgender people in Paraguay. Barbi Aquino was shot in the arm in the early hours of June 27, and Andrea Casanova was attacked with a glass bottle on the 29th. Barbi has worked as a sex worker in the Carmelitas area of Asunción for three years, and this is the first time she has been attacked in public. Around 4 a.m., she was on the corner of Paseo Carmelitas with five other sex workers. Two intoxicated men left the Cover nightclub, located at the corner of Avenida España and Malutín. They got into two Hilux pickup trucks (one white and one black) and began shooting at them. The bullet hit her right arm, near the shoulder.
[READ ALSO: Violence against trans people has increased in Paraguay: the police are the main threat]
“Wealthy people go to that place, and I’m used to it. I’ve never been disrespected before, not even close. That night, we were heading home when they started saying really aggressive things to us. They both rolled down the window and one of them started shooting into the air and then at us, but he only hit me. We started running, and luckily, a friend who had a car came to my aid and we went to the Emergency Room,” Barbi told Presentes. Barbi was taken to the Emergency Medical Hospital, located on General Santos Avenue, where she filed an initial report. “At first, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, so I tried to resolve the situation with my lawyer. I filed the report at the 6th Police Station in Carmelitas, Asunción. I want justice; obviously, this isn’t going to end here,” she stated. In addition to the violence perpetrated by anti-rights groups against the trans community, there is also the violence of institutions. Andrea Casanova, an activist and health promoter with the Panambi group, was attacked by a man who struck her head with a loaded bottle, causing injuries and cuts, at the intersection of the Transchaco Highway and Coronel Bogado Street. The man approached one of Andrea's colleagues on foot to solicit her services. When they couldn't agree on a price, he began insulting them. He tried to hit Andrea in the face with the beer bottle, but she dodged and took the blow to the head. The man then ran away.[READ ALSO: Paraguay: They tried to murder a trans woman with metal rods]
He was denied medical attention.
Andrea went to the Loma Pyta Maternal and Child Hospital, but the on-duty doctors refused to provide her with first aid. “There were two doctors who told me they couldn't treat me because there wasn't a surgeon available to suture my wound. I asked them to at least clean it or stop the bleeding. They flatly refused and told me to take a taxi to another hospital. I left the hospital without finding a solution to my emergency,” Andrea said. From there, she went to Police Station 22 in the greater Asunción area, with her wound still open, to ask for help and file a report, but they refused. “An officer named Fernando Rojas, who was on duty, wouldn't let me file a report. He told me he didn't have a patrol car and no way to call an ambulance. That really made me nervous, and I said, 'Officer, but I'm bleeding, I was just attacked.' 'And why would that be?' he replied. 'They'd only help me if I got a medical diagnosis,'” Andrea continued."Paraguayan society has become a monster where hatred reigns."
In 2018, 68 complaints were registered from the trans community, according to the latest Report on the situation of violence against trans people in PanambiOf these, 5 were due to state discrimination in the health sector, and 12 were due to police violence. Among the latter, intimidation, threats, extortion, unconstitutional deprivation of liberty, physical assault, and sexual abuse stand out. “We are being violated in every way. Zero rights, zero tolerance. Paraguayan society has become a monster where hatred reigns. It's a shame, because sexual orientation, creed, skin color, or anyone's tastes have nothing to do with it. Rights should be universal for everyone,” Andrea stated.]]>We are Present
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