Transphobic attack on sex worker: “They’ve left me traumatized for life”

With just three days to go before the Gender Identity Law comes into effect in Chile, Gema demands that the authorities truly address the reality of trans women.

December 24, 2019

By Airam Fernández, from Santiago, Chile

On the afternoon of Thursday, December 19, Gema Vargas Mancilla, a 30-year-old trans woman and sex worker, was attacked by three men in a small plaza in Puerto Montt. At 4:30 p.m., she was waiting for a bus that would take her back to her home in Chaqueihua, a rural town located on the Carretera Austral, 113 kilometers from the city she frequents. She has injuries all over her body, but especially on her face. Her nose and jaw were fractured. Even so, Gema can speak: “What they did to me will leave me traumatized for life,” she tells Presentes by phone on Christmas Eve, from a hospital where she will remain until the weekend while she recovers.

One of the attackers was arrested a few hours after the attack. He has a criminal record. Prosecutor Ana María Agüero informed the local press that he was charged with aggravated assault. However, the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), after publicly denouncing the case, asserts that it will file a criminal complaint against the attackers to demand the application of the aggravating circumstance under the Zamudio Law.

“This is a transphobic attack. There are videos, photographs, and witnesses confirming that Gema was peacefully in that place, not bothering anyone. And these men arrived in a state of intoxication. Upon seeing her, they insulted and beat her,” says José Arcos, spokesperson for Movilh-Los Lagos.

Gema recounts that when they started hitting her, she was so frightened she couldn't defend herself. “My first instinct was to put my hands to my face, trying to cover myself as much as possible so they wouldn't leave me so disfigured. That's why I didn't see their faces clearly. I don't know what they look like, or I don't remember,” she says, while waiting for tests to rule out eye damage. She does remember that while they were waiting for the police, a few people came to help her after they left her lying on the ground, bleeding: “When they were hitting me, people just watched.”

Gema says this is the first time anything like this has happened to her. Before, the attacks were never more than verbal. Today, she confesses that she's afraid of going back out on the streets when she finishes recovering. “Prison has a revolving door, and the justice system might protect me now, but that man could be released in a month or two on bail and come looking for me to get revenge. So I don't feel safe,” she laments.

That's why, with just three days to go before the Gender Identity Law comes into effect in Chile, Gema is demanding that the authorities truly address the reality of trans women, who have historically faced discrimination in every aspect of society. Discrimination in the workplace has affected her since she was 17: “I'm not a troublemaker or a foul-mouthed girl, I'm just an ordinary girl, and I had to make a living this way because I had no other choice. Now I dream of being able to recover and, hopefully one day, have the opportunity to leave the environment I'm in and succeed in other areas. That's my Christmas wish.”

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