In the early hours of Saturday, Roberta Carabajal, a Peruvian trans woman, was stabbed to death at the corner of 1st and 62nd streets in La Plata, Buenos Aires province, a known gathering place for sex workers. Roberta was 45 years old and a survivor of a group whose life expectancy is around 35. After the attack, her companions took her to San Martín Hospital, where she died hours later.

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The case is being handled by prosecutor Juan Cruz Condomi Alcorta, head of UFI 16, where investigators are working to identify the perpetrator and any possible accomplices. Security camera footage from the area has been requested, and a white Chevrolet Corsa was identified at the scene. According to witnesses interviewed by the Sudaka news agency, two men were seen loitering around, harassing the girls, and asking for Roberta.

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OTRANS Argentina is calling for a mobilization this Monday, February 3rd, at 11:30 AM at the corner of 1st and 62nd streets. Claudia Vásquez Haro, president of the organization, said: “We have been systematically denouncing how trans and transvestite people are annihilated because they are not considered a viable option by a sector of society. We need concrete public policies to reverse this type of violence that ends the lives of our trans sisters. At the same time, we want the right to mourn; because when any ordinary citizen dies, society grieves, everyone feels pity, sorrow, and grief. However, we have not yet been included, as Marlene Wayar and Susy Shock say, on the emotional agenda of our country. We need society to also fight for our deaths.”

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