Paris: Five people were charged on Monday with murdering a transgender prostitute who was allegedly trying to stop them robbing her client in a Paris park, a case that has sparked fury amongst LGBT rights groups.
Vanesa Campos, a 36-year-old originally from Peru, was shot dead on the night of August 16-17 in the Bois de Boulogne, a large park on the French capital’s western edge which has been used for years by sex workers.
Eight people were detained on Tuesday in connection with her death and five have now been charged with murder as well as robbery, a legal source said, adding that they had been remanded in custody.
Hundreds of sex workers and activists marched in Paris on Friday in memory of Campos, holding white roses and signs that said “Justice for Vanesa” as they chanted, “Trans murder, the state is complicit”.
LGBT groups have lashed out at an anti-prostitution law which they said had made Campos’ work more dangerous.
Campaign groups including trans rights organisation Acceptess-T are calling for the 2016 law, which criminalises the buying of sex, to be repealed.
Campaigners say it has hit sex workers’ incomes and forced them to work in more isolated locations so that their customers are not seen by the police — exposing them to a greater risk of assault.
Buying a prostitute’s services is punishable with a fine in France of €1,500 (Dh6,415 or $1,750), rising to €3,750 for repeat offenders.
“The law is 100 percent responsible for Vanesa’s death,” Acceptess-T leader Giovanna Rincon told journalists at the march on Friday, calling for “real measures to fight transphobia”.
