"discriminatory connotations" that may have motivated that violence.133 Indeed, the IACHR has already taken into account considerations made at the international level that violence against LGBT persons constitutes “a form of gender-based violence, driven by a desire to punish those seen as defying gender norms.” 134 The IACHR has also said that sexual violence may acquire a particular significance when perpetrated against LGBT persons, as it can be used as a way to punish and debase victims for being who they are. 135 61. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has noted that “a considerable proportion of the incidents of torture carried out against [LGBT persons] suggests that they are often subjected to violence of a sexual nature, such as rape or sexual assault, in order to “punish” them for transgressing gender barriers or for challenging predominant conceptions of gender roles.”136 Likewise, it has been considered that “[t]he purpose and intent elements of the definition of torture ... are always fulfilled if an act is gender-specific or perpetrated against persons on the basis of their sex, gender identity, real or perceived sexual orientation or non-adherence to social norms around gender and sexuality.”137 In a more recent report, the current rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment noted: “Gender stereotypes play a role in downplaying the pain and suffering that certain practices inflict on women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. Furthermore, gender intersects with other factors and identities, including sexual orientation, disability and age, that may render a person more vulnerable to being subjected to torture and ill-treatment.”138 62. In light of the foregoing, the Commission recalls that gender identity and expression, as well as sexual orientation are fundamental components of the private life of an individual, 139 and therefore the right freely to express that gender identity must be respected as part of the free development of personality, essential to a person's life project, dignity, and liberty. 140 In that sense, when the underlying motive of violence is prejudice based on gender identity, that also constitutes an affront to the right of all persons “to selfdetermination and to freely choose the options and circumstances that give meaning to his or her existence, in accordance with his or her own choices and convictions.”141 3. Analysis of the case 63. The Commission will analyze, first, if elements emerge from the facts in the case that would allow the acts to be characterized as violence based on prejudice toward Vicky Hernández's gender identity and expression. Second, the IACHR will analyze if the Honduran State bears international responsibility for her death. 64. As regards the former, as noted above, certain elements analyzed jointly are indicative of whether or not a crime was committed out of prejudice. In that connection, some of the elements that the Commission has examined and which are recurrent in cases of violence based on prejudice toward trans people, I/A Court H.R., Case of González et al. (“Cotton Field”) v. Mexico, Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment of November 16, 2009, Series C. No. 205, par. 293, citing ECHR, Case of Angelova and Iliev v. Bulgaria, Judgment of 26 July 2007, para. 98. 134 OHCHR, Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, A/HRC/19/41, November 17, 2011, para. 20, cited in: IACHR, Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas, OAS/Ser.L/V/II.rev.2, Doc. 36, November 12, 2015, par. 27. 135 IACHR, Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas, OAS/Ser.L/V/II.rev.2, Doc. 36, November 12, 2015, par. 166. 136 UN, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/56/156, 3 July 2001, para. 17. cited in: IACHR, Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas, OAS/Ser.L/V/II.rev.2, Doc. 36, November 12, 2015, par. 27. 137UN, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/HRC/31/57, 5 January 2016, para. 8. 138UN, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/HRC/31/57, 5 January 2016, para. 9. 139 IACHR, Application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Case of Karen Atala and Daughters v. Chile, September 17, 2010, par. 111. 140 I/A Court H.R., Case of Atala Riffo and Girls. v. Chile, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment of February 24, 2012, Series C. No. 239, par. 133. See also Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 2006, Principle 3. 141 I/A Court H.R., Case of Atala Riffo and Girls. v. Chile, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment of February 24, 2012, Series C. No. 239, par. 136. 133