32-year-old trans woman murdered: "In the midst of a health crisis, the violence against us does not stop"

Stephanie Cardona Matías was 32 years old. She was stabbed to death. This is the second trans femicide in a month.

March 23, 2020

By Pilar Salazar, from Guatemala City

Stephanie Cardona Matías, 32, was found murdered on Tuesday, March 17, by her coworkers. After noticing she hadn't been seen in recent days, they went to her home accompanied by the National Civil Police. Stephanie had multiple stab wounds to the neck, which caused her death, according to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF). It is presumed that her murder took place on March 15.

Originally from Guatemala City, she lived in the Mixco area, 17 kilometers from the city, and worked as a sex worker at a bar located on 7th Street and 6th Avenue in Zone 4 of the capital. She sometimes stayed overnight there because she had to work double shifts to survive. According to sources close to her who requested anonymity, she had received death threats the Friday before her murder.

“She was a very polite, smiling, kind, affectionate, and playful person, never angry.” That’s how her sister Ingrid remembered her, in an interview with Presentes. Their mother passed away when they were young. Their brother went to the United States. According to Ingrid, Stephanie’s father never loved her. From a young age, he sent her to live with her maternal grandmother, and when he found out about her transition, he rejected her even more. Stephanie lived with her grandmothers or her aunt. At 18, when she began her transition, she was forced to leave her family’s home, as happens to so many trans people in Latin America.

“ The violence against us does not stop. Even in the midst of this health crisis, the violence against us does not stop ,” the organization Otrans Reinas de la Noches stated in a press release announcing Stephanie's murder. “We express our solidarity with the family and friends of the now deceased and mourn her unjust, unnecessary, and senseless death. We take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Hospicio San José, which, as in many previous cases, provided Stephanie with a casket.”

Two trans women murdered in March 2020

With Stephanie's murder, there are now at least three trans women murdered this year, and the second in a month. Luisa Sandoval Lemus was a 24-year-old trans woman who lived in the village of Entre Ríos, in the department of Izabal, in the municipality of Puerto Barrios, 287 kilometers from Guatemala City. She disappeared on Thursday, February 27. Neighbors found her dead on March 2.

Why are investigations into these and other hate crimes not progressing in the justice system? Lawyer Fran Riviero responds: “The Public Prosecutor's Office doesn't give the case the importance it deserves. Sometimes there's no will to investigate beyond the available evidence. And in the absence of a gender identity law, these cases don't receive the same impetus as femicides of cisgender women. The main challenges prosecutors face in these cases are the fact that legally they cannot be treated as femicides. But also the system's overall overload—if they don't have the evidence, they don't make the effort to obtain it—and the implicit discrimination in all areas, which limits the objectivity and efficiency of their work.” Although the lawyer points out that these limitations also occur in cases involving cisgender women due to the same overload in the justice system.

The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, through Henry España of the Office of the Ombudsman for Sexual Diversity, told this publication that there has been no progress in the investigation of the three trans femicides that have occurred this year. However, the Ombudsman's Office is committed to following up on the cases through a public information request in April, as it believes this is a reasonable timeframe for progress to be made.

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