Share

Share this

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

On July 7, in the border city of Tijuana, Kendra Medina, a 29-year-old trans woman, was murdered and her home burned down. Kendra's transfemicide was the third in a week in Mexico. That same day, in Colima, Valeria was murdered and tortured ; and on July 1, Ivonne was murdered in Iztapalapa, Mexico City .

In response to this wave of transfeminicidal violence, the National Council to Prevent and Eradicate Discrimination (Conapred) and the Ministry of the Interior urged authorities to investigate with a gender and human rights perspective.

At the time of writing, Presentes received news of three more transfemicides: that of Michell and Dayana in Jalisco; and the transfemicide in Colima of a trans woman, whose name remains unknown.

What has happened in the last twelve days confirms the data published by the organization Letra S in its latest report : an average of 6.5 LGBT people are murdered each month in Mexico. But these recent crimes also suggest that many more may be victims of bias-based violence.

Kendra was murdered and her house burned down

Regarding the murder of Kendra Medina in Tijuana, the Baja California central prosecutor ruled out the possibility of a hate crime and will not investigate it as a femicide. LGBT groups and trans activists are demanding that the national protocol for law enforcement personnel be applied in cases involving sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.

"Her death is something very horrible, very painful, and we don't understand how or why. And how can I put it, well, (Kendra) was a very friendly person; we never met anyone who didn't love her. We feel very angry because no one deserves to die like that," Yaritza Ibarra, Kendra's childhood friend, expressed with restrained emotion in a telephone interview.

According to information provided by reporter Lorena García for the State Attorney General's Office, Kendra's murder is simply a homicide. Furthermore, the statements made by prosecutor Hirám Sánchez reveal his ignorance of the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity. 

TransHate in Baja California

“We are not in a position to deny the identities of others, and unfortunately (the prosecutor) allows himself to not recognize Kendra as trans . Furthermore, he confuses key terms like gender identity with “sexual preferences,” an outdated term that lacks respect for the human rights of sexual diversity. This only further reflects the lack of sensitivity toward the LGBTTTIQ+ population, which results in a lack of follow-up to cases with a gender perspective,” reads a statement from the Tijuana LGBTI Cultural Community.

According to records kept by trans activist Susana Barrales, at least five other trans women have been murdered this year in the state of Baja California . Some, she says, remain unnamed, precisely because their deaths are underreported as homicides, as there is still no gender identity law that allows trans people to rectify their identity documents with their name and gender.

Kendra: blows and signs of torture

Kendra lived in the Hacienda Los Laureles Pacífico neighborhood, located on the outskirts of the large industrial complexes, 19 kilometers from downtown Tijuana. She worked in the molding area at Plant 1, on the A shift at the Hunter Industrial maquiladora.

Simey, a trans woman and Kendra's neighbor, says that around six in the morning, neighbors reported a fire. "The neighborhood has been without water for a week, so there's no way to help. Plus, there weren't even a single cry for help. No one thought Kendra was inside her house because we knew she worked the morning shift." 

Firefighters who responded to the fire found Kendra with bruises and signs of torture. According to El Imparcial reporter Ángel Alpuche, experts from the State Attorney General's Office ruled out fire as the cause of death and presumed, based on a wound on her neck, that the cause could have been strangulation. 

However, almost a week after the incident, the Prosecutor's Office has not clarified the official cause of death . According to a local media outlet, the autopsy by the Forensic Medical Service indicates that the cause was "head trauma caused by a violent blow."

Prosecutor's Office does not investigate hate crime 

Central Prosecutor Hirám Sánchez stated that Kendra's murder does not meet the criteria for investigation as a femicide, nor as a hate crime. The reasons? 

“We didn't initiate this as a crime against a trans person because he was identified by his first name, as a male. He hadn't undergone any sex change; at least he wasn't transgender, so we had no knowledge of how he had that preference and made it known on social media […] And no evidence was found that it was related to his sexual preference (sexual orientation),” he told local journalists. 

The Baja California Penal Code does not classify the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victims as an aggravating factor in homicide, nor does it specify it in the protocol for the crime of femicide. In Mexico, only 13 states include these aggravating factors in their penal codes for homicide and serious injury.

According to reporter Lorena García, the prosecutor explained that the main line of investigation is that "the murderer is someone who knew the victim." 

Kendra's journey from Nayarit to Tijuana

Kendra was originally from a town in Tecuala, Nayarit, a state in the west of the country, and at 20, she migrated to Tijuana. “It's more of a country life there. She didn't like that life, she wasn't suited for it, and so she left out of necessity because there are no opportunities there,” Yaritza Ibarra, Kendra's childhood friend, told Presentes in an interview.

Kendra began her physical transition in Tijuana. Yaritza says her family "always respected" the femininity she was already expressing, "especially when dancing reggaeton and English music, which she really liked," she recalls. 

Family and friends followed her transition on Facebook. “I saw her photos and that she was going to exercise. At first, she changed her name a lot, but then she settled on Kendra. I think she chose that name because of the soap opera she really liked, which featured Marjorie De Sousa (who played Kendra Ferretti in 'True Love'),” Yaritza explains. 

Yaritza says she was respected at the Kendra factory. On the day of her murder, the company its regret

Two days after her murder, the community where she grew up organized to raise money so Kendra could travel from Tijuana to Nayarit. This Sunday, July 11, she was held by friends from her work, but she remains in Tijuana. "Kendra's transfer has been postponed because there are no flights to Nayarit," Yaritza clarified in an interview. 

Kendra's family, friends, neighbors, and activists are demanding justice.

“Tijuana is transphobic, sexist, and conservative.”

“Tijuana is a transphobic, sexist, and conservative border. LGBT people, but particularly women and the trans community, are experiencing a lot of sexist and transphobic violence, as well as violence from armed groups and politicians with hate speech,” says Susana Barrales, a trans activist from that city.

What Susana says and perceives coincides with the data. For the third consecutive year, Baja California is the most violent state in Mexico , according to the 2021 report from the Institute for Economics and Peace. Furthermore, on June 30, the Ministry of the Interior activated the Gender Violence Alert due to the increase in femicides, rape, and domestic violence in at least six municipalities in the state, including Tijuana.

“When I found out, my skin went cold. Suddenly knowing it was my neighbor, another trans woman, makes me feel in danger, because we don't know if someone is trying to attack us,” says Simey, a trans woman and Kendra's neighbor. 

“ Trans women don't deserve this: to live in fear. We are human beings who deserve full respect and need rights . We demand not to be treated with a pinch of salt, but rather with equality and without violence. And oh, what we're going through hurts me deeply, and I won't deny it, it scares me for myself and my colleagues. We shouldn't even be thinking about going to the other side (migrating to the United States) to avoid being next,” Susuana Barrales says indignantly.

Susana adds that she prefers to stay out of the investigation into Kendra's murder, but she's in contact with the family in case they need support. She has received threats in previous cases due to her activism, and at this time, given the current situation in Tijuana, she seeks to prioritize her own safety and that of the trans women around her.