LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS — Update March 22, 2015– This is from CNN:

A Brazilian transgender woman has accused police of brutally beating her, shaving her head and stripping her of her clothes.

Veronica Bolina was arrested on April 12, accused of assaulting an elderly neighbor and attempted murder.

When photos of Bolina with her face disfigured appeared on social media in subsequent days, officials opened an investigation.

There are pictures of Bolina, allegedly during her arrest, with her shirt ripped off, her hands handcuffed behind her back and her feet chained together. There are also closeups of her face, allegedly taken at a later date, with both eyes swollen shut and her mouth swollen.

Sao Paulo city authorities responsible for gender issues interviewed Bolina on Friday. She told them she was assaulted by police on three different occasions. She also admitted to biting one of her jailers in the male detention center.

In initial interviews with police and other authorities, Bolina denied she was tortured by police, saying she attacked them. But she later said she had been coerced into making those statements with the promise of a lightened jail sentence.

The photos have outraged activists and prompted supporters to declare #SomosTodasVeronica or “We are all Veronica”.

Sao Paulo authorities say the public defender’s office is investigating the matter and working to ensure Bolina is permanently transferred to a detention center where she can have an individual cell and use women’s clothing.

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(Original article:)The details of what exactly led to the arrest of Brazilian trans woman Veronica Bolina in Sao Paulo earlier this week is rather secondary when you look at the photo. Everything you see — the shaved head, the brutally disfigured face and stripped clothing, all happened to her while she was in police custody.

The police made a rather ridiculous attempt to get her to admit on tape that “nothing happened.” Officials were heard on the tape in the background coaching her.

An advocate for trans/LGBT in Sao Paulo, Alessandro Melchior, says Bolina was also beaten again at a hospital where she was taken to be treated for the injuries she suffered at the hand of the police.

There is no word on what happens to Bolina now or whether any of the officers face assault charges.

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The photo pretty much says it all.

t/h Helene Hazera

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/brazil-trans-woman-stripped-shaved-and-disfigured-police-beating170415#sthash.WF6TRdO8.dpuf

[Portuguese] Trigger warning: http://acapa.virgula.uol.com.br/politica/em-audio-travesti-presa-que-aparece-com-rosto-desfigurado-diz-que-so-foi-contida/2/32/26308?hc_location=ufi

CNN update: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/22/americas/brazil-jail-transgender-beating/index.html

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