Sonia Rescalvo Zafra (1946 – 6 October 1991) was a Spanish trans woman who was murdered by a group of neo-Nazis in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona on 6 October 1991.[1][2] Her murder is notable for being the first known case in Spain of a person being murdered for being transgender.[3]
Sonia Rescalvo Zafra | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 |
| Died | 6 October 1991 (aged 44–45) |
| Cause of death | Blunt trauma (murder) |
| Known for | First known victim in Spain of transphobic murder |
Background
editSonia was born in Cuenca, Spain in 1946 to parents Leopoldo Rescalvo and Dolores Zafra.[4] She moved to Barcelona at the age of 16 and began working as a showgirl in theatres on the Avinguda del Paral·lel. Later in life, she fell on hard times and became homeless and addicted to drugs, turning to sex work to survive.
Murder
editSonia and a friend, known as Dori or Doris, were sleeping rough at a bandstand in Barcelona's Parc de la Ciutadella in the early hours of 6 October 1991 when they were abruptly attacked by a group of six teenage skinheads from the Boixos Nois, who gave them repeated kicks to the head while wearing steel-toe boots.[5] Sonia was killed in the attack and her friend was seriously injured; three other people sleeping at the bandstand were also attacked.
Investigation and trial
editAn investigation was launched by the Mossos d'Esquadra and became the force's first murder inquiry since its recent redeployment in Catalonia. Police treated the attack as a hate crime, even though Spanish criminal law at that time did not distinguish between crimes motivated by prejudice and others.[1]
In March 1992, seven people were arrested and charged in connection with the murder: Pere Alsina Llinares, David Parladé Valdés, Héctor and Isaac López Frutos, Andrés Pascual Prieto, Oliver Sánchez Riera and Óscar Lozano. Police found weapons such as brass knuckles and baseball bats, as well as neo-Nazi and Boixos Nois paraphernalia in searches of their homes.[5] The court in Barcelona found that the attackers were hostile to LGBTQ people and knew the bandstand was regularly used by LGBTQ people as a place to sleep.[4]
In June 1994, six of the suspects were convicted of participating in the attack and given prison sentences ranging from 23 to 50 years, while the seventh, Lozano, was fined 100,000 pesetas for knowing of the murder and not reporting it.[6] In 1996, the attackers' sentences were reduced by the Supreme Court of Spain. All six have since been released from prison.[4]
Aftermath
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In 1993, a plaque commemorating Sonia was installed on the bandstand where she was murdered. In 2013, the bandstand was officially renamed Glorieta de la Transsexual Sònia in her memory.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "Sonia Rescalvo Zafra: the brutal murder that galvanized the trans rights movement". Catalan News Agency. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Remembering Sonia Rescalvo Zafra". Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Morir por ser transexual" [Dying for being a transsexual] (in Spanish). El País. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ a b c "El asesinato de Sonia Rescalvo, 30 años después: "Dolía escuchar que en los medios se refiriesen a ella en masculino"" [The murder of Sonia Rescalvo, 30 years later: "It hurt to hear that the media referred to her in masculine terms"] (in Spanish). Newtral. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ a b "Se cumplen veinte años de la muerte de Sonia, la mujer transexual asesinada en Barcelona por un grupo de ultraderechistas" [Twenty years have passed since the death of Sonia, the transsexual woman murdered in Barcelona by a group of far-rightists] (in Spanish). 10 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "310 años de cárcel para siete 'skins' por asesinar a un travestido en Barcelona" [310 years in prison for seven 'skins' for murdering a transvestite in Barcelona] (in Spanish). El País. 13 July 1994. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "The Murder of Sònia Rescalvo Zafra Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 3 October 2023.