A trans rights activist has been stabbed to death in Argentina, the third trans woman to be attacked in the past two months. Leader of the Anti-Discrimination Liberation Group, Diana Sacayán, was found dead in her apartment in Buenos Aires on 13 October. Police are believed to be treating her death as a homicide and are looking for two suspects who may have been known to Sacayán. Sacayán was one of the first trans people in Argentina to obtain new identity documents in 2012 when a law change allowed people to change their officially recorded gender without needing to go through the courts or have medical clearance. Highly regarded for her dedication to advocacy and activism Sacayán also worked an alternate representative of the Trans Secretariat on the Board of ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association). Amnesty International has sent a message to the Argentinian government calling for the investigation into a wave of attacks against trans activists in the country. “The killing of three trans women in Argentina in the past month must trigger authorities into taking more robust action to protect one of the most marginalized communities in the country.” Sacayán’s death comes only a month after two other trans women and LGBT rights activists, Marcela Chocobar and Coty Olmos, were violently killed in the provinces of Santa Fe and Santa Cruz. “A dark cloud has set over Argentina’s trans community. Unless this latest wave of murders is effectively investigated and those responsible taken to justice, a message will be sent that attacking trans women is actually ok,” said Mariela Belski, Executive Director at Amnesty International Argentina. “Argentina must not allow this wave of violence to continue. Setting up a database to document gender crimes and developing strong mechanisms to investigate and punish gender violence would be good and long awaited first steps.” Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez has asked that the national security services and the metropolitan police “solve this horrible crime.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 17th October 2015 - 4:07pm