By Alexis Oliva 

Photos: Presentes Archive, courtesy of family and friends, Diario de la Región.

Family members, LGBTQ+ groups in Chaco, and friends of Fabiola Ramírez, a 22-year-old trans activist, maintain that she was the victim of a transphobic femicide in Resistencia. Officially, her death has been classified as “suspicious.” However, the courts told Presentes that no hypothesis can yet be ruled out.

On Friday, March 5, at 3:30 p.m., police found the body of Fabiola Ramírez in her home in the Rawson neighborhood, in the southern part of the city of Resistencia. They reported the investigation as a “suspicious death.” That same night, local television channels ran the headline: “Woman Found with Throat Slit.” For her family and friends, there was no doubt: “Fabiola was murdered in a hate crime. They went there to kill her, and they killed her because she was transgender,” one of the spokespeople for the LGBTQ+ groups supporting the family told Presentes

The initial police report indicated that neighbors called the Fifth Metropolitan Police Station to report strong, repulsive odors emanating from a house at 1800 Leandro Alem Street. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found Fabiola deceased and discovered stains resembling blood. Forensic experts transported the body to the Institute of Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Chaco Judiciary for an autopsy, the results of which are not yet available. 

Demonstrations to demand justice

Fabiola's friends noticed she had been offline for several days and feared something bad had happened to her. Upon hearing the news, they denounced her death as a transfemicide and on Saturday gathered in Plaza 25 de Mayo in the capital of Chaco province to demand justice.

Over the weekend, some media outlets in Chaco reported the arrest of a suspect, allegedly the victim's ex-partner. This version was denied by the prosecutor's office and by the organizations involved in the Justice for Fabiola.

“There is a killer on the loose in the city, an investigation riddled with misinformation and negligence. But more than anything, La Fabi was a victim of a system (social, state, patriarchal) that violated her and endangered her, that took away her chance at a dignified life where she didn't have to think every day about surviving, and that now silences and marginalizes her death,” the statement released last night said.

“I'm not ruling out any hypothesis.”

When contacted by Presentes, prosecutor Roberto Villalba denied that a suspect had been arrested and refuted the claim that the victim had been decapitated: “None of that happened.” “The forensic doctor from the Judiciary (Osvaldo Mambrin) will send me a preliminary report today, but he told me that the body showed no signs of trauma or blows. At the moment, I don't have enough information to change the classification of 'suspicious death,' but I'm not ruling out any hypothesis and I will rely on medical science,” clarified the head of Prosecutor's Office No. 6 in Resistencia.

However, the official noted that bloodstains and a shoe print were found at the victim's home. Furthermore, it was confirmed that her cell phone was missing, which opens up "many lines of investigation." "We are making a great effort to try to piece together the puzzle of Fabiola's last steps and hours, whose death is believed to have occurred on Wednesday the 3rd, possibly after midday. This will take time," he added.

Prosecutor Villalba reported that he will meet today with the victim's family and with authorities from the Provincial Human Rights Secretariat. "They will surely request a more detailed autopsy, an independent expert, and to formally join the case as a private prosecutor, which I think is very positive for helping to clarify the case," he stated. 

Candombe, militancy and survival

“Fabiola Pamela Ramírez was a girl like any other. At only 22 years old, she had dreams, plans, and so much love. There wasn't a feminist march, a Pride march, or a Human Rights march where you wouldn't see her raising a flag for Justice and Equality. With immense talent, solidarity, and tenderness, 'La Fabi' was also a passionate candombe dancer, a member of the Chaco-based group Aguara Chacú.” This is how her peers in the Chaco LGBTQ+ community describe the young woman who, in 2019, had returned to her province from Córdoba, where she had lived for several years. While looking for work, she tried to finish high school and study at university. One of her jobs in the city was as a food supplier for the trans cafeteria at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities (FFyH) of the National University of Córdoba (UNC).

Ivanna Aguilera, a trans activist and one of the driving forces behind the project, remembers her: “Fabiola was among the first group of colleagues who were going to work in the cafeteria. She was pure joy and eager to work and participate. She traveled with us when we presented the Trans and Travesti Labor Inclusion project to the National Chamber of Deputies, and she was always willing to help when we organized festivals to support the cafeteria. I remember she loved to dance.”

“When the economic situation worsened, it became very difficult for her to study and work, and she had to return to her province, where her family could support her. She refused to resort to prostitution to survive. I was in Chaco giving training sessions, and that's where I found her again. She was still an activist for the trans and travesti cause and wanted to return to Córdoba,” Ivanna recounts sadly. 

“Something has to be done.”

“It was terrible to find out, we were stunned,” says Thiago Galván, president of the Student Center at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities when the trans cafeteria was created and currently a council member at the National University of Córdoba. “Unfortunately, violence against the trans community, and especially against trans women, is commonplace. These trans-hating operations end in brutal murders. Something has to be done; we can no longer look the other way.”

Ivanna Aguilera, coordinator of the Trans, Travesti, and Non-Binary Area at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities (FFyH), issued a statement demanding “clarification and justice for the transfemicide of our colleague.” She also called for “an urgent judicial reform that provides us with justice with a gender perspective, valuing all lives equally. This March 8th, and more than ever: Stop transphobia!”

March 8th in Chaco will demand justice for Fabiola

The groups that make up the Justice for Fabiola are calling for a march today at 5pm, from Avenida 9 de Julio and Las Heras, in the context of the mobilization for International Women's Day in the capital of Chaco.