Transfemicide in Tucumán: a 20-year-old trans woman was murdered

Vanesa Solórzano was 20 years old and was murdered in San Miguel de Tucumán.

August 13, 2020

By Gabriela Cruz, from San Miguel de Tucumán

Photos: Facebook Trans Unidas Tucumán and courtesy of Gustavo Ovejero

In the early hours of Tuesday, August 11, the body of Vanesa Solórzano, a 20-year-old trans woman, was found by a resident in the southern part of the city of Tucumán. Later, among the bushes in the area—near Alem Avenue and the South Canal—officers investigating her murder found a butcher knife, the
weapon believed to have been used to kill her. DD, a 30-year-old taxi driver identified as responsible for the young woman's death, is in custody. According to judicial sources who spoke to Presentes, there is strong suspicion that the man arranged a sexual encounter with Vanesa, and after an argument and when she refused to pay him, he murdered her.

Initial reports in local media described the incident as an attempted robbery, which outraged Vanesa's family and friends. However, the discovery of the car keys, the weapon believed to be the fatal wound, GPS data from the taxi, and what appeared to be bloodstains inside the vehicle disproved this theory. Security camera footage from the area, according to sources close to the case, further implicated the suspect.

Vanessa and friends at the Pride March in Tucumán.

Vanesa was 20 years old and, like most trans women, worked as a prostitute to survive. A friend who shared the corner of Roca Avenue and Rioja Street with her—whose identity is being protected—remembers her as a great companion. “For me, she was always like a sister, my best friend. I will remember her fondly, with that smile and that zest for life she always had, to get up and fight every day. She was very protective of us, of the girls who worked in the same spot. She never hesitated for a moment to defend us when a client did something to us,” she told Presentes.

The plea for justice

The demand for justice is just beginning. “We’re organizing a march in front of the prosecutor’s office,” says Vanesa’s friend. They will also publicly condemn the actions of the taxi company owner for hiring a driver with a criminal record. “There have been rumors linking her to the murderer, saying they had a relationship. That’s false. She met this guy that same night. All the girls who hang out on that corner know who’s who. This guy isn’t even a regular customer,” she stated.

“She was a cheerful, charismatic, and very charming person,” Micaela Rotolo, Vanesa's sister, told Presentes. “ Our family always supported her, and we won't rest until there is justice . The lives of trans women are very hard; they suffer a lot of discrimination and are always exposed to horrible situations. It's not right to do what they do to them. We never imagined this could happen,” Micaela commented. She also thanked organizations like Trans Unidas Tucumán and Komapañeres Tucumán Peroncha for their support of the family.

“It’s outrageous the versions that are appearing trying to change what happened or saying there was a relationship between this man and my sister. They’re trying to harm her. But here we are, in the midst of all this pain, my sisters and my mother,” adds Micaela, saying that in the coming days they will join Vanesa’s friends to organize the necessary actions, with a single objective: to prevent this transfemicide from going unpunished in a province with a strong history of violence against transvestites and trans people in recent years.

August 12 marked three years since the transvesticide of Ayelén, which had a strong impact and marked a turning point between sexual diversity organizations and the urgent demand for justice for these crimes in the province.

Transvesticide and transfemicide in Argentina 2020

So far this year, Agencia Presentes has reported at least three transvesticide/transfemicide murders, three attempted transvesticide/transfemicide murders (one under investigation) and one suspicious death in Argentina.

There are also social transvesticides: deaths due to lack of access to basic rights, that is, due to the structural violence suffered by trans and gender-diverse people. Organizations that track these figures, including La Rosa Naranja, estimate that there have already been at least 57 preventable deaths this year .

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