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News > Latin America

Transgender Woman Brutally Murdered in Dominican Republic

  • Jessica Rubi Mori

    Jessica Rubi Mori | Photo: Facebook / Jessica Rubi Mori

Published 7 June 2017
Opinion

The investigation into the violent murder of a transgender woman is still underway with only one suspect so far.

Rights groups are raising alarm over the heinous murder of Jessica Rubi Mori, a transgender sex worker, in the Dominican Republic, as one example of the urgent need for increased protections for the LGBTI community as the numbers of victims of violent hate crimes continues to rise.

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Mori's grossly dismembered body was found Saturday in an abandoned property in the city of La Romana. Appendages of the 32-year-old victim’s body were recovered by police at the crime scene, but the complete corpse has not been located.

Authorities place the murder at about 10 hours prior to the body’s discovery. She was last seen the previous day at Vagos Park, located at the edge of the city, with two companions before climbing onto a motorcycle.

Police have reported they have only one suspect, the victim’s partner, 25-year-old Noel Toñe Rondon, who has been taken in for questioning.

Human rights and LGTBI organizations have demanded criminal authorities provide justice for Mori and transparency in a thorough investigation of the murder case.

“The grotesque killing of Jessica Rubi Mori is a tragic reminder that the Dominican authorities need to take bolder steps to eradicate discrimination, including that based on gender identity and sexual orientation,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director for Amnesty International.

Amnesty International has condemned the murder as a violent hate crime, stating that it is the second transgender killing of the year and the 38th since 2006.

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“The Dominican authorities must continue to work with civil society groups to bring effect to these proposals,” wrote Amnesty International in a statement. “This crime must be investigated independently and impartially. Authorities must take all steps to unmask any potentially discriminatory motive in the crime.”

Mori, also known by her legal name Elvis Guerrero, was an activist with the community organization Este Amor.

The brutal murder comes as social organizations in the country are pushing for the approval of two new laws, a Gender Identity Law, to ensure transgender people have full citizenship rights, and an Equality and Non-Discrimination Law, for all socially excluded groups.

According to the 2012 study by Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, 35 percent of trans sex workers have experienced physical violence in public, 40 percent by clients, 20 percent by partners and 36 percent have confessed to exchanging sex with police officers to avoid arrest.

LGBTI activist Deivis Ventura described Mori as “a daughter of this country that was unprotected by her state for the sole act of showing herself just as she was," the Dominican outlet Acento reported.

"I will not ask justice from a deaf state that makes fun of us and sits at its table to give us crumbs," Ventura continued. "I demand that trans people and other LGBT people have equal opportunities. I demand protection.”

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