Activists ‘Demand Justice’ After Trans Woman Is Beaten And Strangled To Death In Her Own Home

A trans woman has been found beaten and strangled to death in her own home, kindling long-held fears of Venezuela tipping into violence.

Valentina Gámez, 39, was found dead in her home on the evening of August 10 by family members in San Cristóbal, the capital city of the mountainous western state of Táchira.

Her relatives had spent the night desperately ringing her mobile phone only to encounter silence, fueling concern over her wellbeing.

Entering the property on Vista Hermosa Street in the Paramillo neighborhood, her loved ones discovered her lifeless body covered in bruises and dried blood, Diario La Nación reported.

Gámez had suffered blows to her face and much of her body, with signs of strangulation, according to Policía Nacional Bolivariana, Venezuela’s national police force.

Officers arrived at the scene shortly after and ruled her death a homicide. No known motivations for the killing have been identified by investigators, with the case being referred to the Cicpc Bolívar Homicide Axis, a top police agency specializing in forensics.

As the front door to her home, owned by her mother, had not been tampered with, detectives said it is possible that the victim knew her attacker. Theft has also not been ruled out.

According to Yahoo! News, Gámez is at least the fourth trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming person violently slain in Venezuela this year, according to Nunca Dejes de Soña, a national LGBTQ+ organization.

“They are killing us!” the group tweeted in response to Gámez’s passing.

“We demand justice! Our lives matter!”

The attack comes just less than a month after Elizabeth Rondón, a 33-year-old trans vegetable seller, was brutally dismembered by her own friends moments after going for drinks with them.

She was a quiet but charismatic woman, her loved ones recalled, whose life was ended by those who were “bothered” about her being trans.

For Nunca Dejes de Soña, a group already familiar with threats to its members’ safety, Gámez’s death is a painful reminder of how trans Venezuelans are among the most marginalized groups in society.

“Trans women are one of the most vulnerated, violated, persecuted and attacked marginalized groups in our society,” the group said in a statement.

“They are bullied, mocked, discriminated against, kicked out of their houses, denied jobs, denied the right to their identity and, even after death, denied the basic respect to their identities by being misgendered and deadnamed in the media.

“Every person deserves security. Every person deserves to live their life fully and without fear.

“And while we mourn the absence of yet another one of our sisters, we must keep fighting for a nation and a world where no girl – cis or trans – has to wake up in fear that they won’t survive another day.”

Read related myGwork articles here:

Miss CoCo Is The 34th Known Trans Person To Be Killed In The US This Year

Two Trans Women Brutally Killed As Anti-Trans Hate Surges In US

Trans People Face Four Times More Violence Than Cis People

Killings Of Trans Americans Reach All Time High

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