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Five people have been charged in Paris, France in the fatal shooting of Peruvian transgender sex worker Vanessa Campos, who was reportedly trying to stop a robbery. Over the weekend hundreds of LGBT activists and sex workers marched to demand the repeal of a 2016 law, which made the purchase of sex criminal act and more protection for prostitutes in response to the killing.
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Campaigners carrying placards reading “Justice for Vanessa,” said the law forced prostitutes to seek clients in more isolated areas to avoid being arrested by authorities.
“The law is 100% responsible for Vanesa's death," said Giovanna Rincon.
Others accused the French government of being “complicit” in the deaths of transgender women who work as prostitutes.
Approximately ten transgender prostitutes have been murdered in the Bois de Boulogne in recent years, according to Le Parisien.
Campos, who worked as a prostitute in the Bois de Boulogne, a city park known as a pick-up area for clients, was shot dead on the night of August 16 or in the early morning hours of the next day. According to a police source who spoke to the Le Parisien newspaper, she attempted to stop a robbery of her client's car when she was attacked by a group of men who were armed with knives, sticks and a handgun.
Other prostitutes working in the area told Tetu magazine, France's largest LGBT publication, said they heard gunshots and Campos shouting “Todas!” The word “Todas,” in Spanish, means “all women” and is a code word used by women when another was in need of help.
Friends said they ran to her aid. One approached her after being shot in the chest; however, she had to retreat after more shots were fired.
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