Attempted transfemicide in Escobar: Mia survived and her attacker is free
Trans activist Mia Retacco, 26, was attacked in her home by a boy with whom she had a relationship.
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By Rosario Marina
Mia Retacco felt the knife when she was lying on her back in the shower at her home in Escobar. It was November 10th and the third time she had seen Franco Perez. He had always insisted she go shower with him.
“I fought for my life throughout the house,” Mia, a 26-year-old trans activist who works at the Municipality of Escobar after studying Law for three years at the University of Buenos Aires, tells Presentes.
Initially, a prosecutor charged her with attempted murder without even seeing her. Thanks to activism, they finally took her statement.
“That image of when he started stabbing me is burned into my head because it was totally unexpected. I felt like I had to do everything, fighting with all my might, to get away. To get out alive. I happened to cross paths with a femicide, and I could have been just another statistic,” says Mia.
Franco Pérez was a boy Mia used to hang out with. They always met at her house.
“He told me to go in first (to the shower), and then he went in. I was having sex, and out of nowhere he started stabbing me with knives. I had my back turned. That's when the fight for my life began,” Mia explains.
When he was strangling her, and she could barely see, she managed to grab a shard of glass from a fallen cup and cut him. That's what made him let go. As soon as she did, Mia ran to the balcony to call for help.
The aggressor gave a statement and the victim was charged.
The police arrived shortly after, along with the ambulance that took Mia and her attacker away. Franco Pérez underwent emergency surgery at the hospital, and hours later, prosecutor Claudio Audjian, head of UFI 5, who was on duty Tuesday night, arrived. He went to see Pérez, took his statement, and immediately decided to charge Mia with attempted murder.
“They left the hospital without taking Mia’s statement and without even seeing her. I was the only person familiar with the issue who was allowed into the hospital and able to see her. Just by looking at her, you could tell there was a dangerous element to the struggle she was in. Nayla Belmonte, psychologist and director of the municipality’s Gender and Sexual Diversity Policies Department, told Presentes
Mia was then detained at the hospital, guarded by two officers. On Wednesday, she went to give her statement to the prosecutor's office. At that moment, the perception of justice changed: they took her statement and saw her.
“Obviously, the situation turned in her favor,” Belmonte explained. The judge rejected the UFI 5's request for her arrest and ordered her immediate release. The case was then transferred to UFI 4, the specialized gender violence prosecutor's office, and the charges were changed to investigation of an alleged crime. Franco Pérez remains free.
The support of organizations
The alert was sent by Araceli Mera to the WhatsApp group of the Escobar Local Gender Committee, which includes several organizations. It was around 10 p.m. on Tuesday. Araceli, an activist with ATTTA and a member of the Directorate of Gender and Sexual Diversity Policies for the municipality of Escobar, said: “There was an attempted transfemicide,” and explained that they were at the entrance of the Dr. Enrique Erill Zonal Hospital supporting the family and needed the support of the organizations.
“As soon as we received that message, we contacted Araceli, who told us that Mia had suffered an attempted transfemicide, which she fought back against. In her self-defense, she injured the aggressor,” Giuliana Pawluczyk, a member of MalaJunta, told Presentes .
The Directorate of Gender and Sexual Diversity Policies decided to act as a liaison between the various institutions and their community , providing information, offering support, and ensuring that the organizations and their friends who were outraged could offer their constructive support to Mia. “And that’s exactly what happened: the next day, a lot of organizations, colleagues, and neighbors came to the prosecutor’s office, and we were there in a very peaceful, supportive, and compassionate way, accompanying her,” said Nayla Belmonte, who now feels confident because she knows that the fact that the case is in the hands of the prosecutor of UFI 4, Christian Fabio, is a good thing.
Mia was taken from the prosecutor's office to the police station, where she was accompanied by a human chain. “Our organizations were present at the prosecutor's office while she was giving her statement. We managed to get the specialized gender unit, headed by Christian Fabio, to intervene and secure Mia's release at that moment,” explained Giuliana. “For Mala Junta, it was a very powerful experience because we've known Mia for years. She's a leading figure in the LGBT rights movement and activism here in the district; she was one of the driving forces behind the Pride march. It was very moving,” she concluded.
For Mia, now recovering at home, it is important to emphasize something: "That thanks to the organization and pressure of the people who gathered, I have my freedom."
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