Mexico: Three trans women were violently murdered in two weeks
Three trans women were violently murdered in two weeks. According to activists, there have been at least 20 trans femicides so far in 2024.
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico. Three transgender women have been murdered in Mexico in the last two weeks. Meredith, 20, died from a beating in Michoacán ; Alison was killed in her home in Nuevo León in a double homicide amid widespread violence between drug cartels and the armed forces. In the south of the country, Fernanda, a sex worker, was run over and killed in Veracruz; it has not yet been determined whether this was a homicide.
These deaths add to the tally reported by activists that so far in 2024, at least 20 trans women have been victims of femicide in Mexico . This includes one social trans femicide and a double homicide in the context of widespread violence, in which a trans woman was murdered.
In this regard, Raúl Martínez, a member of the Michoacán es Diversidad Collective and the National Observatory of Hate Crimes, warns that “ the climate of violence in the country makes it impossible to understand the causes and motivations of each hate crime because the authorities have made them appear to be related to drug trafficking. But beyond the motives, it is important to acknowledge that there are crimes against trans women, trans men, gay men, and lesbian women; and the prosecutors must provide answers.”
In this context, the Trans Collective of Monterrey demands the creation of “a national alert for transfeminicides and that the governments of the states where these hate crimes have been recorded make a strong statement on the matter.”
Meredith died as a result of a beating in Michoacán
Meredith was 20 years old. The report indicates that she died on April 7 at the Civil Hospital of Morelia, Michoacán. Her death was due to a beating that occurred on March 30 in a housing development in Tarímbaro, a municipality near that city.
The young woman was with two friends when they were “brutally beaten” by at least four men in the early hours of the morning. One of them managed to escape. The other called emergency services after finding Meredith unconscious, according to several local media outlets.
“Meredith suffered a skull fracture, a broken nose, and chest and abdominal trauma. She was taken to the Civil Hospital where she remained in intensive care for a few days. However, she died from her injuries,” reported Salvador Gaytán of El Sol de Morelia .
“There is a report of assault filed by the hospital, as it is their obligation to report when people like this arrive. I know that one person has been arrested. Other victims are being encouraged to file their own reports so that the investigation can continue,” Raúl Martínez told Presentes .
Presentes attempted to contact the Prosecutor's Office, without success. Furthermore, from the date of the attack until today, the judicial authorities have not issued any statement regarding this incident.
On April 10, the Michoacán State Human Rights Commission reported that it initiated an ex officio complaint investigating "the violation of the right to human dignity, consisting of a lack of conditions for a dignified life."
Allison was murdered in her home in Monterrey
On April 14, a fire was reported in a tenement building in the Treviño neighborhood of Monterrey, Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. According to local media , firefighters and civil protection personnel extinguished the blaze and found the charred remains of two people: a man and a transgender woman.
According to Sylvia Pérez, activist and member of the Trans Collective Monterrey , the woman's name was Alison, she rented that room, she worked as a sex worker and she was 35 years old.
So far, the Nuevo León State Attorney General's Office has not released any information about the incident. Local news reports indicate that personnel from the State Investigation Agency interviewed neighbors and the landlord and are reviewing security camera footage to identify those responsible. The reports also stated that armed men arrived at Alison's home in a vehicle and set it on fire.
This is a “collateral transfeminicide,” explains Sylvia Pérez. That is, “it apparently happened as a settling of scores because the man was decapitated, but there are signs of brutality against her, which indicates that it is also a transphobic femicide,” the activist explains.
“Something else we noticed is that the media criminalized and revictimized Alison. They portray it as just another execution, not even mentioning that it was a femicide where there was hatred and cruelty involved,” she adds.
On the afternoon of April 16, activists called for a protest at the Prosecutor's Office to demand an investigation with a gender and human rights perspective.
She was hit by a car and the driver fled.
On April 11, a vehicle ran over Fernanda Rodríguez as she was walking along the Veracruz-Xalapa federal highway, where she worked as a sex worker.
Early that morning, reporter Víctor Toriz of La Silla Rota reported that “a trans woman was run over by a semi-trailer truck (…) The truck driver never stopped and fled the area without being identified so far.”
Due to the severity of the accident, Fernanda's face and body were unrecognizable. LGBT+ people from the area were able to identify her.
The Veracruz Attorney General's Office informed this media outlet that "the type of crime cannot yet be determined, nor whether it was premeditated by the driver of the vehicle." When asked if they were considering Fernanda's gender identity and her job, the official insisted, without providing details, that "we are investigating."
“The fact that more than 20 trans women have been victims of transfemicide so far this year is a stark statistic for a vulnerable population that is also a minority. What is even more serious is the constant cruelty, hatred, and impunity,” concludes Sylvia Pérez.
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