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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. The first trial for transfemicide in the province of Misiones began on March 8 , and the Posadas Criminal Court No. 1 is expected to issue a verdict this Thursday, March 17. Activists, the plaintiffs, and the prosecution are all arguing that the murder was a “hate crime.”

The only person charged is Ramón Da Silva, also known as “Ramoncito” or “Junior”, the then-partner of Evelyn Rojas, a trans woman who was beaten to death in 2016. The 29-year-old man is accused of femicide aggravated by the pre-existing relationship. 

The prosecution and the plaintiff requested on Monday that the charges be expanded to include the aggravating factors of "hate crime" and "treachery," prosecutor Martín Rau confirmed to Presentes

Evelyn Rojas was murdered on October 27, 2016 at an abandoned gas station , located at the intersection of Uruguay Avenue and Bouchardo Street, in the city of Posadas, in the province of Misiones, a place where Da Silva "used to hang out".

“Evelyn was beaten to death, and most of the blows were to her face. She also had waist-length hair, which was cut off before she was killed. All of his insults and violence toward her were directed at her sexual orientation and gender identity: there is no doubt that this was a hate crime,” Florencia González, the lawyer representing the victim's family, Presentes

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How it was investigated

The investigation was led by prosecutor Adriana Herbociani, who requested that Da Silva be brought to trial for aggravated femicide due to the pre-existing relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. Judge Fernando Luis Verón, of the Court of Instruction No. 3 of Posadas, granted her request.

According to Dr. González, there were “many irregularities” in the investigation and “a total and absolute lack of gender awareness at the time of carrying it out.”

“I believe that if it had been done as it should have been, the prosecutor would have understood that the category that should have been applied here was that of hate,” he asserts.

Regarding the accusation of “femicide,” he explains that “the evidence clearly demonstrates that it was not simply gender-based violence from a man towards a woman. There was hatred, cruelty, and viciousness due to her identity and sexual orientation.”

“I also understand that Evelyn wasn’t just any woman, but a trans woman. This community carries other vulnerabilities than those of a cis woman. In my understanding, section 11 of article 80 of the Penal Code is absorbed by section 4 where we are indeed talking about hate crimes against gender identity,” she adds.

To accuse justly

The prosecutor, Martín Rau, who has been leading the case since it went to trial, asked on Monday to expand the charges against Da Silva to include the aggravating factors of "hate" and "treachery".

Regarding this, he explained that “in Argentina, treachery is defined by the victim's inability to defend themselves against the aggression. In this case, the victim had an alcohol intake of 4.44 grams per liter, which, according to the forensic doctors who testified during the trial, left her practically in a comatose state.”

Furthermore, regarding the expansion of the aggravating circumstance of hate against Evelyn's gender identity, Rau pointed out that "several of the witnesses who testified during the hearings stated that the episodes of violence committed by the accused were always against transgender people: he would never have committed these types of violent acts against cisgender women or men. Moreover, all the areas where Evelyn expressed her femininity were the ones attacked."

This Thursday, the Criminal Court No. 1 of Posadas, made up of President Viviana Cukla and members Ángel Dejesús Cardozo and Marcela Leiva (subrogative), is expected to hand down a sentence.

Evelyn's Life

Jeylin remembers her sister as "the little star of the house."

“She really liked glamour, exaggeration, dressing up,” she tells Presentes .

“I remember when she lived with us, I once told her that one day I would like to be like her. She was very beautiful. She secretly gave me advice because she was embarrassed,” recalls Jeylin, who is also “proudly” a trans woman.

Evelyn was 26 years old when she died. Throughout her life, she experienced other forms of structural violence, like much of the trans and travesti community. While she had no problems with acceptance within her family—her mother is even a plaintiff in the case—she did face challenges in other areas of her life.

“He didn’t finish high school, and elementary school was quite difficult for him because he suffered a lot of discrimination for being effeminate at that time. He looked for work cleaning houses, but they made fun of him to his face. Then he took the path that many take due to lack of work, which is sex work,” his sister says.

In this regard, González asserts that “she was just one more of the trans women who experience these situations. She also had the misfortune of encountering this man who ultimately destroyed her emotionally, even taking her own life.”

The support of the organizations

The organization Somos Diverses , which is supporting the plaintiffs in the trial, hopes that "this crime will truly receive a sentence that frames it as a hate crime against the gender identity and expression of Evelyn Rojas."

“It is important that all institutions begin to mainstream the gender and diversity perspective in all areas,” Adam Yan, president of the organization, Presentes

Furthermore, he concludes: “This is an extremely important trial because it will also set a very important precedent in legal, paradigmatic and historical terms for our country.”