AR — Santa María, Córdoba. A transgender detainee who was being held for violence against women has been released from prison after authorities suspected that he had sexual contact with several female inmates, and impregnated one.

The case, which took place two months ago, was brought to public light last week Wednesday by defense attorney Juan Domingo Gacitúa on the Argentine TV program El Show de la Mañana (The Morning Show).

In October 2017, Mr Domingo Gacitúa’s client, 27-year-old Gabriela Nahir Fernández, was sentenced to three years and two months in a men’s prison for “injuries and threats” that were “gender-based.” The divorced man has a history of three complaints of family violence.

With legal assistance, Mr Nahir Fernández, who was named Gabriel at birth, changed his name on the Civil Registry and requested a transfer to women’s prison. He told a court that he identifies as a woman and was “uncomfortable” being housed with men.

Under a 2012 law, individuals may change their legal name and sex upon request, without having to undergo judicial, psychiatric or medical procedures.

A judge granted Mr Nahir Fernández’s transfer request under code 26.743, which requires treating individuals according to their gender identity. The Penitentiary Service placed the male detainee in the women’s section of Bouwer prison in Santa María, Córdoba.

Relatives of female detainees constantly filed complaints against Mr Nahir Fernández, noting that the transgender inmate strutted about the prison naked “as God brought him into the world,” his male anatomy on full display. Several female detainees said they were “uncomfortable” with Mr Nahir Fernández, especially in the shower, and noted that he did not dress like a woman. They requested his transfer.

The attorney said his transgender client began engaging in illicit encounters with some of the female prisoners. It is not known whether the acts were consensual. One of the women was ultimately found to be pregnant.

According to writer Agústin Laje, Mr Nahir Fernández was denounced on April 4 for “savagely beating” the woman when he learned that she was pregnant, and 11 women attested to witnessing the attack.

After the discovery, a judge released Mr Nahir Fernández from custody, determining that he was eligible for parole.

The woman remains in prison. “The pregnant person has a very long sentence and could now request house arrest,” Mr Domingo Gacitúa said.

“There is no infrastructure in place for those who have a gender change,” the attorney lamented in the interview with Channel 12. “The law is much faster than the infrastructure the state can provide.” He called it “dangerous.”

“What would happen if many women perceived themselves as male? They would be transferred to a men’s prison … Can you imagine a situation of women bathing in the same environment as men?”

In a series on LGBT rights and discrimination in various countries, the World Politics Review (WPR) named Argentina “an LGBT Rights Leader,” praising the nation’s “enthusiastic embrace of pro-LGBT policies” in its “expansion of transgender rights at home while pushing for LGBT rights generally on the world stage.” Argentina resembles England and Ireland on the LGBT front, as the movement has allies amongst both conservative and non-conservative parties, the WPR notes.

In 2016, the government reported that there were 740 women incarcerated in Argentina, or 9% of all detainees. Nearly 70% are in pre-trial detention, meaning they have yet to be convicted. “The vast majority of [women in the justice system] are detained for non-violent crimes, whether transport, commercialization or simple possession of drugs and, secondly, for theft or attempted theft” in acts that are poverty-driven, the National Prison Prosecutor said in a report issued to the Working Group of the Organization of the United Nations last year. The young children of 6% of female detainees stay with their mothers in custody.

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