Attempted lesbian murder of a visual artist in the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires
The woman was found by her partner. They had to leave their home and are asking the police to expedite the report to further the investigation.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. After years of constant lesbian-phobic harassment in the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires, near the Abasto shopping center, Marta Zelaya was the victim of an attempted murder of her. On October 30, a man forced his way into her home, beat her unconscious, and suffocated her with acrylic paint. Her partner, Josefina Flores, found her.
They filed a report at Police Station 3A, and the police recorded it as "minor injuries." It is expected to reach the prosecutor's office for further investigation.
Marta and Josefina have been reporting harassment for some time: shouting, mistreatment, and violent situations were commonplace at the location. Their previous complaints were dismissed. Marta is a cancer patient.
The night of the attack
According to Josefina, a few days before the attack, one of her neighbors appeared naked when Marta arrived home. This wasn't unusual. The man often went to her front door and touched her private parts.
Marta is a visual artist and set designer. On the night of October 30th, she was working at home while waiting for Josefina to return from work. She heard someone trying to open the door, approached it, certain it was her partner, and opened it. At that moment, the man overpowered her, brutally beat her, and left her unconscious. Then he filled her nose with paint.
“I was about to get home. I estimate that 50 minutes passed between the time I contacted her and when I arrived. It happened during that time,” Josefina recounts. “I arrived and noticed the door was open. I started yelling for Marta and found her lying on the floor with acrylic paint on her nose.”
Josefina immediately contacted the police, and Marta was taken to Ramos Mejía Hospital where she received treatment. In addition to suffering an attempted asphyxiation with acrylic paint, she was diagnosed with multiple injuries.
Presentes a week later , the beating had several consequences. “I have cancer (breast cancer), and my gallbladder and liver are damaged organs and I need surgery (I'm on the waiting list at a public hospital). There's swelling in my sternum area, which caused breathing difficulties and required painkillers. My dentures were broken. I suffer from dizziness and nausea from blows to the head. And new bruises appear over the following days,” she said.
After being discharged, the women spent only two days at home and are now looking for somewhere to live because they don't want to return to the building.
Living in fear
After she filed the report, the police went to the scene. They found no fingerprints because the assailant went straight into the house, hitting Marta, and everything indicates that he didn't touch anything else. However, Josefina found it strange that none of the officers took statements from the neighbors.
“This was an attack where a man broke into our home and attempted femicide,” says Marta. On the night of the attack, despite the violence that took place, not a single neighbor approached to ask what had happened or if they needed anything.
Marta and Josefina are staying thanks to friends and colleagues who offered them a place to stay. They left everything at home, but they're afraid to go back.
“We requested police protection and they gave it to us for two days. That's why we left. One of the officers we spoke to when we filed the complaint told us that everything indicated the aggression came from inside the building, which we suspected. We can't stay there anymore,” Josefina tells Presentes .
Josefina also requested a safe house for herself. “I’m also at risk, but they won’t give me a panic button because I wasn’t attacked. It’s not like we moved for no reason. We’re living off the charity of our friends because I don’t have a safe house. We have to go pack our things and we’re afraid something might happen to us,” she tells Presentes .
On Friday, November 11, they were finally able to remove some of their belongings from the penthouse, with the help of the LGBTQ+ area of the Ombudsman's Office, which arranged for police protection during those hours. They went in a group along with other members of feminist organizations.
“Our economic situation is dire. We both work off the books and don’t meet the requirements to rent a place. We’re waiting for a response from the ministry to join the Acompañar Program,” the women say.
The accompaniment
The incident was made public through the social media channels of the Argentine Actors Association, as both women work in the theater industry. They are also receiving support from the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity and the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI), who have been advising them on the next steps.
On the other hand, various LGBT organizations are publicizing the search for a home for the two women who, in response to the attack, decided to leave the place where they had been living for more than five years.
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