Share

Share

Share on FacebookShare on Facebook TweetShare on Twitter Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

Social activist and president of Otrans Argentina, Claudia Vasquez Haro, was the target of another attack on her property. This time it was in the La Loma neighborhood of La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province. Leonel Máximo Domínguez threw stones and glass bottles at her home—which houses the Otrans headquarters—and her car. This is the third attack on her residence in eight years.

“You bitch, I’m going to kill you,” the man yelled at her, while attacking her property from the third floor of a building across the street, in the early hours of Thursday last week. After gathering evidence, including videos of the incident, Vásquez Haro filed a complaint against Domínguez for “threats” and “damage” with the UFI Nº 1 (Specialized Prosecutor's Office) in La Plata. She requested protective measures for herself, which have not yet been granted, she told Presentes.

In 2019, Domínguez's ex-partner reported him for gender-based violence and unlawful detention. The woman fell from the balcony after a fight with the man, according to a statement released by Otrans. Claudia and another neighbor are witnesses in the case and supported the victim throughout the legal process.

Sustained risk

Regarding the aggressor, the civil association specified that he has a criminal profile. "In addition to perpetrating gender-based violence, he is a transphobic 'machirulo' (a derogatory term for a sexist man), uses drugs, and is a member of the Estudiantes de La Plata soccer club's barra brava (a violent fan group).".

“I assumed that after the violent incidents in 2019 with his ex-partner, when he lived on the first floor, he had moved, because I didn't see him anymore. After this latest attack, I learned that he moved to the third floor of the same building. This put me at risk for six years, as I had no protection measures in place as a witness, since I lived with an abusive neighbor who is covering for himself or was covered for him during all this time,” Vasquez Haro explained.

According to the activist, this is a recurring issue under right-wing governments that promote and exploit hatred toward the LGBTQ+ community. In this regard, her home, which also serves as the headquarters of Otrans Argentina, has been attacked three times in the last eight years.

In 2017, she was the victim of an attempted murder of a trans woman at her home, after having traveled to Geneva to the United Nations headquarters to denounce the Argentine State for human rights violations against the trans community. For that attack against her, the Criminal Court No. 1 of La Plata, in a landmark ruling, sentenced the attacker to 10 years in prison for the crime of attempted murder aggravated by hatred of gender identity. 

Regarding the second attack, he recalled: “In 2024, they broke into OTRANS' offices and stole notebooks, professional cameras, among other things.” 

"This is not an isolated incident."

“What happened in the early hours of May 1st follows this same line; it is intimately related to violent patriarchal and cisheteronormative practices. President Milei’s transphobic rhetoric enables and endorses these kinds of practices,” she reflected.

He added: “This is not an isolated incident; on the contrary, it is part of a context of escalating violence against the LGBTQ+ community, which has been worsening since the government of Javier Milei took office. He has defunded public policies supporting victims of gender violence and assisting transvestites and trans people, accompanied by hateful, violent, pathologizing, and criminalizing rhetoric towards our identities.”.

During Javier Milei's year and a half in office, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and women suffered a systematic attack. The trans community was the most directly targeted, both in the rhetoric and actions of the libertarian government. The president himself delivered a speech to the international community at the Davos Economic Forum in which he spread misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community and, especially, about the trans community. Finally, he attacked the national law that is a global landmark, the Gender Identity Law, won through popular protests in 2012.

In this context of escalating hate speech against LGBTIQ+ people, 140 hate crimes occurred in 2024 in which the sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression of all the victims were used as a discriminatory pretext for violating their rights and perpetrating violence against them. 64% of the cases (90) involved trans women.

“We demand justice, protective measures for both victims and witnesses, and an exemplary sentence. The violent practices of these sons of patriarchy will not silence us, and we redouble our efforts to defend our rights and live in a more just and equal society. Trans fury!” declared Otrans.