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In the early hours of July 19, Cristell Martínez, 32, was shot and killed in the municipality of Comalcalco, Tabasco , a state in southeastern Mexico. Two men fired at least eight shots at Cristell, and no arrests have been made. This is all that is known so far, based on press reports.

“In Cristell’s case, we have very little information about her. What we have been able to gather about the crime, although the authorities haven’t said so, is that drug trafficking is involved. This is on the rise. And trans women are being targeted by these groups,” Felipe Sánchez, coordinator of Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias Tabasco, Presentes

The murder of Cristell is the fourth documented transfeminicide so far in 2024 in Tabasco, which thus becomes the second state with the most hate crimes registered against trans women.

“ The situation in Tabasco is critical. Not only because of the lack of rights, but also because of the increase in violence against trans women and those we support ,” explains Sánchez.

So far this year, 32 transgender women have been murdered in Mexico. Most of the victims were sex workers or lived in vulnerable situations. 

Tabasco: few rights for LGBT people

“Violence continues to prevail in Tabasco. Neither this government nor previous ones have guaranteed even the most basic rights. There has been no access to justice, nor have mechanisms been created to prevent the violence that the LGBTIQ+ population ,” Sánchez denounces.

Tabasco is one of the states in the country that recognizes the fewest rights for LGBT+ people. Only when the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) declared same-sex marriage unconstitutional did the local Congress approve the necessary reforms. 

However, although the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) has issued guidelines for the recognition of gender identity through administrative channels, Tabasco is one of the nine states in the country that still does not guarantee this right . This limits access to other rights and fosters a cycle of violence and vulnerability to which this population may be subjected.

proposal to reform the Penal Code to criminalize hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity was recently

Activists denounce harassment while demanding justice

The Tiresias Dollhouse in Tabasco has supported the four known cases of trans femicide committed so far this year. However, activists report that every time they pursue cases and follow up on investigations, they face negligence from the authorities, especially in prosecutor's offices outside of Villahermosa, the state capital. 

“It has been very difficult for organizations like ours to be recognized as the social family that accompanies the victims. Often, the biological family doesn't recognize the bodies and doesn't give the victim's identity the importance it deserves. We see this more in cases outside the capital. There, it's more common for the authorities to lack training and sensitivity, and to fail to recognize the victims' identities,” says Sánchez. 

Regarding the recognition of chosen family—which can be friends or civil society organizations that defend human rights— the Paola Buenrostro Law was recently passed . It is the only law in the country that recognizes chosen family as part of the process of accessing justice in cases of transfemicide .

Furthermore, the coordinator of Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias reports that when they have demonstrated outside the Prosecutor's Office to demand justice, they have encountered unknown people who harass and threaten them during the protest. 

Gender Violence Alert for Trans Women

In the absence of protocols to guarantee investigations with a gender and human rights perspective in cases of hate crimes against the LGBT+ population – including the application of the femicide protocol in cases of murders of trans women in Tabasco – Felipe Sánchez considers it urgent to activate the Gender Violence Alert against Women (AVGM) and to include trans women.

The Gender Violence Alert (AVGM) is a mechanism in Mexico that implements government actions to "eradicate femicidal violence in a given territory, in order to guarantee full access to the right to a life free from violence." In the country, 23 of the 32 states have this alert active.

The mechanism is part of the public policies proposed by the General Law on Women's Access to a Life Free of Violence. However, it does not explicitly mention transgender women. It only states that "the sexual preference" (that is, sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity) of women must be considered for access to public policies on this matter. 

The request for a Gender Violence Alert in Tabasco is still pending approval, having been submitted again in 2022. The request was rejected in 2016.
“Here in Tabasco, all forms of femininity are being attacked, including trans women, cis women, and non-binary people whose expression is feminine. Several collectives see the activation of the Gender Violence Alert for trans women as urgent because, within the state's jurisdiction, it's the only thing we've found that could potentially benefit us, since there are neither strategies nor protocols to prevent transphobic violence ,” concludes Felipe Sánchez.