Cassandra (Photo: Yagg.com DR)
THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — [Updated, see below.] The dead woman, reportedly migrated from Peru, was found October 4th in a forest near Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville. The body appeared burned and while authorities are investigating and have made no official announcement as to the cause, trans activists fear Cassandra may have been burned to death.
News reports say she most recently a sex worker living in or near Rouen. Trans activists say a recently enacted law that is forcing sex workers to operate under more dangerous conditions. They also say they’re concerned about the lack of legislative action to head off the murders of trans people.
(Note to readers: Due to the translation glitches, I am not entirely how many trans murders occurred in France this year. Trans group “ACCEPTESS-T” stated that there have been 12 deaths. This number may include other causes, such as AIDS. The group is however, saddened with number of deaths in 2012 and will be remembering these deaths on TDOR (Transgender Day of Remembrance).
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UPDATED – Nov. 8, 2012: Here’s an article with more information. It has been translated:
“A trans woman, found dead in a forest near Rouen
Posted by Julien Massillon | In Society
According to information from Normandy Paris, Cassandra, 39, was a sex worker from Peru. His body, chest partially burned, was found Sunday morning by a hunter in the forest of Roumare, near Rouen. According to the latest information, she had been strangled. The gendarmes Company of Rouen and Research Section are currently investigating to try to learn more about the circumstances of the homicide.
Arrived in Paris a few years ago, Cassandra had contacted the association Acceptess-T. Director of the structure, Giovanna Rincon remembers a woman “weakened” and suffering from health problems. Living in a very precarious situation, Cassandra had gone to live in Rouen about two years ago. She had found an apartment today placed under seal. From Paris Normandie, she was accustomed to work close to the place of Boulingrin.
But Saturday night, she did not return home, according to her neighbor Jennifer, also a sex worker. “When I got home, I hit the wall as they do whenever us to tell the other one is back and everything is fine, but I have not had a response,”-she told the regional newspaper. It’s a few hours later the body was discovered Cassandra. Insofar as it did not have family in France, the police are very reluctant to provide information about her, Giovanna Rincon regrets. His association plans to organize a collection to provide funeral the deceased and to repatriate his remains in Peru.”
http://yagg.com/2012/11/08/une-trans-retrouvee-morte-dans-une-foret-pres-de-rouen
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Thanks to Helene Hazera for the tips.
Both sources are in French: Rouen : un travesti retrouvé mort en forêt, partiellement brûlé – Tendance Ouest.
http://www.facebook.com/acceptess.transgenres?fref=ts
Photo of the Roumere Forest where Cassandra’s burnt body was found
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Filed under: Deaths, Murder, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans, Acceptess-T, Cassandra, france, Giovanna Rincon, Rouen, Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville, tdor, Transgender Day of Remembrance
Thank you for bringing this terrible tragedy to everyone’s attention. One point: I think it is not such a great idea to put Cassandra’s name in quotation marks like that… even if it is a work name, given we don’t have anything else to go with, I think it is best to just treat that as her name and go with that, I fear otherwise the quotation marks could be misinterpreted.
R.I.P. Cassandra
Agreed. I changed it.
I agree with leftygirl’s point about Cassandra’s name. If that’s the woman’s name, then refer to her as Cassandra. Don’t copy a heteronormative practise
Having just read the original French sources, Cassandra is referred to as a transvestite/drag queen (travesti) and later, a man. Whether she was TV or TS the quotation marks are, frankly, an insult to her memory. She was by no means the first, and sadly will be by no means the last. Rest in peace, Cassandra x
Changed.
The burned chest makes it likely she was TS. Horror!
I agree that the use of quotations was innaoropriate. It was also inappropriate to assume that the other rational cause for death among transgendered people is aids.
Sources indicates that AIDS is likely a big percentage of the number quoted by the French trans group.
I’m still vexed that so many international deaths are not added to the “official” TDOR website. Somebody’s dropping a ball, or several.
Have you contacted the TDOR site? They simply may not be aware of it.
[...] From Lexie Cannes: http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/trans-woman-found-dead-burned-in-france/ [...]
Sadly in France the French government and police consider all trans latino women prostitutes, many are but not all. I don’t believe they will spend much time investigating Cassandra’s murder.
Something terrible worth mentioning is many Latino women who do come to France to work in prostitution live in a constant state of fear of being deported. Without documents many take extreme measures and pay drug addicts €300 to inject them with HIV. This happen a lot in Paris. If they get ill in France then the government is obliged to give them medical care, documents, housing etc… They think this is a good solution from being deported.
It’s astonishing to think this is possible in Paris but it is happening. Last week I talked with a 19 year old trans girl from Ecuador, she paid for HIV in Paris when she was 18. The tragedy is she still thinks it is better than being deported. She continues to escort despite being infected.
Cassandra’s murder is awful but there are many more in France. Violent attacks and sexual attacks are rarely reported.
One estimate says there are as many as 20.000 trans sex workers in Paris alone. I don’t know the official number but it is likely the police will just consider Cassandra another hooker and close the case.
Cassandra R.I.P.
Thanks for your comments!
[...] Cassandra: Found burned in a forest near Rouen (Normandy) in France. The exact cause of death was not disclosed. [...]