A Transgender woman in Brazil has been reported of being beaten by military police on April 10, causing major disfiguring to her face. Veronica Bolina's photos of her aftermath reached the internet and went viral not long after. The photo has spread around social networks and a movement has begun for the woman with the hashtag #somostodosVeronica, meaning "We are all Veronica."
After viewing before and after photos of Bolina, it is hard to imagine what she was put through. The woman face is so bad that she is almost unidentifiable by appearance. People in Brazil contributed to the movement with artwork of Bolina's face which has been posted on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. You can find the artwork on the "We are all Veronica" Facebook page. On the Facebook page you can witness the great amount of support behind Bolina and the LGBT community. So far the fan base of the page is around 20,000 and each post averages over 100 likes. Aside of the artwork, people have posted videos expressing their feelings about the act and reflecting on ways to help the cause.
"Those photos were shocking because of the violence, and [because] the police didn't respect her gender identity," said Alessandra Ramos, an LGBT activist in Brazil.
Due to Molina's transgender identification, she was not respected. Another motive for the attack may have been for a reason that was not released to the public. Looking to acquire more information about the story and Molina herself, I decided to google her name. What was found during the google search were adult videos of Molina. Molina has worked in the pornography business. It is not set in stone, but the man or men who assaulted her may have known about this, giving them more fuel for their actions.
The Sao Paulo Police are under investigation, according to the Secretary of Public Safety. In 2012, Brazil was pronounced as being the social media capital of the world, according to stats from the Brazil Future in Focus report. Thanks to the social media boom that Brazil has experienced in the past few years, a serious incident that would remain in the dark in most areas of the world was brought to light and addressed.