Race and Equality launches practical guide for requesting precautionary measures at the IACHR
Race and Equality launches practical guide for requesting precautionary measures at the IACHR
Washington, DC. May 8, 2020. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) has released “Precautionary Measures at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Function and Process,” a manual to assist activists and human rights defenders with the process of soliciting precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
“This educational tool can provide support to civil society organizations who face the risk of serious human rights violations when they prepare requests,” remarked Carlos Quesada, Race and Equality’s Executive Director.
The guide consists of two documents: one aimed at attorneys and legal experts, and an illustrated guide that follows four characters through the process of requesting and receiving precautionary measures, designed to explain the steps of the process to grassroots activists.
“We assembled this guide to ensure that activists who lack experience in the Inter-American legal system can access the precautionary measures process. For each step of the process, the guide provides the reader with a ‘theory review’ where the illustrated characters explain what each step implies and a ‘practical review’ that explains the steps of preparing and filling out each requirement. All the cases used as examples in the guide were created as educational examples; in no way do they correspond to real cases,” explains Christina Fetterhoff, Senior Legal Program Officer.
The guide, now available to download from Race and Equality’s website at www.raceandequality.org/publications, aims to build capacity among users of the Inter-American Human Rights System and in so doing strengthen the System as a whole.
According to Caitlin Kelly, Legal Program Officer for Latin America, “Precautionary measures are a vital tool for protecting human rights and for taking concrete steps to protect people at risk of fundamental rights violations. Race and Equality strives to make this tool and the Inter-American system as a whole more accessible to grassroots activists in the region, as part of our broader efforts to allow these activists to take the lead in demanding their own rights. We hope that it will be very useful to our partners.”
The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights is an organization that works with organizations and activists in Latin America to protect and promote the human rights of marginalized populations, particularly people suffering rights violations due to their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Race and Equality provides capacity-building to grassroots organizations so that they can become effective political actors and promote structural changes in their home countries.
Race and Equality calls on Latin American States for more inclusive measures to be taken for transgender people
Washington D.C., March 31st 2020. Today we commemorate the International Transgender Visibility Day, a day to celebrate transgender lives and raise awareness about the discrimination this population faces. On this day, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), wants to give visibility to the issues transgender people face throughout Latin America.
All
over the world, racism and other forms of discrimination marginalize and
ostracize the trans population. This makes access to health services,
education, work, and housing extremely difficult. Unfortunately, States limited disaggregated
data on the situation of trans people rendering them invisible from groups
targeted for public policies designated to support vulnerable situations, especially
in Latin America. Combined, these factors place them in vulnerable situations
where they are more susceptible to different illnesses, addictions, and
violence.
Violence
against the trans community in Latin America
The
trans community continues to face severe incidents of violence. For example,
Brazil remains the leading country in trans homicides around the world with 127
registered cases[1], closely
followed by Colombia who ranks third, with 21 recorded crimes against this
population[2]. According to data collected by the National
Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA) in Brazil, there was a 90%
increase in the first bimester of this year (38) compared to the same period
last year (20).[3]
According to these statistics, in some countries, to identify as trans is to
sign a death sentence.
In
Perú, the trans community continues to face large amounts of violence and
discrimination. During the 2020 congressional elections, Gahela Cari, the first
transgender candidate to run for Congress in Peru, tried to cast her vote when
a member of the National Jury of Elections (JNE) refused to recognize her
gender identity. Similarly, members of the polling station in Lambayeque
harassed Fiorella Mimbela, an LGBTI+ activist, when her legal name and image
were spread around social media networks.[4]
These are not isolated acts but part of a wider pattern of rejection and
violence the Peruvian trans community faces.
In the Dominican Republic, LGBTI organizations have recorded around 48 transgender homicides since 2006. Out of these 48 only 5 have verdicts, demonstrating the trans community not only faces high levels of violence but also faces barriers in access to justice. A more recent case shows that strangers are not always the perpetrators of these heinous acts. Willianny, a trans woman, had both her hair and breasts cut off by her own family members before her funeral, a repudiation of her identity. One LGBT activist, Yimbert Feliz Telemin, commented that “in the Dominican Republic being trans is worse than being a street dog.”[5]
Continual work must be done in order to combat the discrimination and violence against the trans population. Race and Equality calls on all Latin American and Caribbean States to sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention Against all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance[6] and, for States that have not done so, legally recognize the gender identity of trans and non-binary people in accordance with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Advisory Opinion 24-17[7]. Additionally, we remind States that many members of the trans community are sex workers and depend on their profession to survive. We call on States to safeguard their rights and guarantee they will not be the object of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment.
Gender
Identity
Much of the discrimination against the trans population is also created from the lack of recognition of their identity. As ANTRA describes it, it is not only the denial of their name, but their identity, “an appropriation by a society that frequently prefers to expose rather than welcome.”[8] Oftentimes, countries such as the Dominican Republic do not allow trans people to legally change their name while other countries place hurdles such as high costs, long bureaucratic processes, or as in Peru, require the process to be through the courts. Having the correct documentation is just the first step of many to demarginalize trans people from different public spaces.
In
countries where name recognition is legal, there continue to be issues with the
lack of information regarding the process, both in relation to the necessary
procedures and what to do in cases of discrimination. In rural areas all these
issues are exacerbated. Bruna Benavides from ANTRA in Brazil notes that there
is little investment in training or capacity building programs for trans
leaders, so that they can provide the necessary assistance for people to
complete the rectification of their documents.
In
collaboration with our partners we also ask for the inclusion of trans people
in all public policies created due to COVID-19, not only at the local and state
level, but also at a federal level, especially those developed to aid
low-income, self-employed, and unemployed people. During this time, the stigma
and discrimination against the trans population has become more visible. We
call on States to guarantee their access to health and put in place protocols
that will ensure they are treated humanely and not discriminated against
because of their gender identity.
[1] Associação Nacional de Travestis e
Transexuais do Brasil (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de educação (IBTE). “Dossiê
Assassinatos e violência contra travestis e transexuais no Brasil em 2019”.
2020.
[3]Associação Nacional de Travestis e
Transexuais do Brasil (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de educação (IBTE).
“Dossiê Assassinatos e violência contra travestis e transexuais no Brasil em
2019”. 2020.
[8] Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais do Brasil (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de educação (IBTE). “Dossiê Assassinatos e violência contra travestis e transexuais no Brasil em 2019” 2020.
March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Message from Carlos Quesada, executive director of Race and Equality
Washington
DC, 2020, May 21st. Today we
commemorate once again the International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, a day that we at the International Institute on Race, Equality
and Human Rights (Race and Equality), take as an opportunity to remember our
universal rights to equality and non-discrimination. This message must be
echoed in a context of growing intolerance, hate, and superiority speech that
do not contribute to the development and well-being of our society.
We
have been commemorating this day since 1966, in memory of the 1960 Sharpeville
massacre in South Africa, when police opened fire and killed 69 people who were
protesting peacefully against the Apartheid Pass Laws. Since then, racial
discrimination has subsided considerably in Africa and also in Latin America.
This
year, Mexico ratified the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial
Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, thus joining Uruguay, Costa
Rica, and Antigua and Barbuda; and also ratified the Inter-American Convention
against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, which entered into force with
this ratification.
Also
in Mexico, the inclusion of the Afro-descendant self-identification question
was achieved for the first time in the 2020 Census. However, it was included
late in the process, so Afro-Mexican organizations had to start their awareness
campaigns just a few months before the census, which is being carried out this
month. Currently, the campaign continues with great force led by the Collective
to Eliminate Racism in Mexico (COPERA, for its initials in Spanish) along with Race
and Equality and in alliance with some government agencies and Afro-Mexican
organizations.
In
Panama, we are concerned that the census scheduled for May 2020 was postponed
until the first quarter of 2021, due to delays with the bidding process. This
implied that all progress made on the 2020 Census was suspended, and
adjustments to the next steps represent a great challenge. This is because
there are several actions that must be carried out such as updating the budget,
cartography, and identifying and hiring personnel, among many other duties.
However, this period has allowed for the promotion of self-identification among
Afro-descendants in both rural and urban communities.
In
Colombia, the number of social leaders assassinated in 2019 was alarming: at
least 253, of which 91 were Afro-descendant and indigenous leaders, according
to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ, for its initials
in Spanish). Patterns of structural racial discrimination continue to prevent
Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities from having effective enjoyment of
their economic, social, and cultural rights compared to the rest of the Colombian
society. It is a matter of concern that given this situation, the Colombian
government has not guaranteed an adequate statistical estimate of the
Afro-Colombian population. This is reflected in the 2018 Census, where the
black, palenquera and raizal population was reduced by 31%
compared to the 2005 Census. The Government is also not offering the conditions
needed for the implementation of the Peace Agreement with an
ethnic-differential approach.
In
Brazil, between January and February 2020, 38 trans women were killed, of whom
75% were Afro-Brazilian. This figure is particularly worrisome because it is
90% higher compared to last year’s figures. In general, most LGBT crimes are
committed against Afro-descendants, according to data from the National
Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA, for its initials in
Portuguese).
In
Cuba, there is still no implementation plan for the International Decade for
People of African Descent. We have managed to document that the majority of the
activists who are victims repression by the Cuban Government are
Afro-descendants, such as Juan Antonio Madrazo, Marthadela Tamayo or Nancy
Alfaya. From the State’s side, there is no opening to recognize the existence
of racial discrimination on the island.
From Race and Equality, we will continue to
make visible, fight, and denounce the marginalization and injustices that
Afro-descendant populations face in the Americas. We will continue to work,
especially in the company of our counterparts in the region, who, from their
communities, contribute to tehe construction of a more equal society.
On International Women’s Day, Race and Equality Honors the Work of Women Human Rights Defenders
To mark March 8, International Women’s
Day, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and
Equality) wishes to highlight the fundamental role played by women human rights
defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. In a region where rates of sexual
and gender-based violence against women are extremely high and multiple forms
of discrimination are entrenched, women human rights defenders are key in the
fight for the defense of women’s human rights. Likewise, they are at the
vanguard of promoting and protecting the rights of others.
Although the vast majority of countries
in Latin America and the Caribbean have ratified the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),[1]
women in the region continue to suffer inequalities that negatively impact
their full enjoyment of human rights. According to the Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), more than 3,800 women in 33 countries
in the region were murdered because of their gender in 2019.[2]
This violence stems from structural inequalities which profoundly affect all
women, but especially women members of historically marginalized groups like
Afro-descendants and the LGBTI community. For example, according to the Network
of Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women, Afro-descendant
women are victims of multiple forms of violence, which is often racialized.
Likewise, the current discourse on gender ideology in the region, driven by in
large part by conservative religious groups, has led to more discrimination
against lesbian, bi-sexual, and trans women, as well as more hate crimes and
murders. Finally, poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, as in other
regions in the world, has a feminine face, as women are less likely to have
access to higher education and work outside of the home than their male
counterparts. When women do work outside of the home, they are paid, on
average, 17% less than men.[3]
All of these factors make the work of women human rights defenders of utmost
importance. But, they are also facing some grave challenges.
In Colombia, where the post-Peace Accord
reality for human rights defenders is startlingly alarming due to the high rate
of murders of defenders and impunity for those murders, women human rights
defenders are among the most vulnerable. As the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights recently documented, the number of women
human rights defenders killed in Colombia in 2019 increased by 50% over the
2018 number.[4]
Afro-descendant and rural women defenders are at generally greater risk, just
as they suffer greater vulnerabilities in terms of overall enjoyment of their
human rights.
In Cuba, independent women activists are
facing an increase in repression and de facto house arrests, as well as
reprisals and threats against themselves and their family members. Travel
restrictions arbitrarily imposed by the Cuban government routinely prevent
independent activists from participating in advocacy activities outside of the
island and the application of these against women continues to grow.
Furthermore, Cuban women are clamoring for an Integral Law against Gender
Violence – a proposal which has been rejected by the National Assembly – and
they continue to face difficulties in accessing decent, well-paying jobs.
In Nicaragua, the crisis that began in
April 2018 has had a profound impact on women. Women human rights defenders,
such as the Mothers of April, have played an important role in the opposition
movement, as many have lost their children to the violence of the crisis. There
has also been an overall increase in violence against women and femicides, as a
result of the crisis. Furthermore, women in Nicaragua also face
disproportionate economic consequences due to the crisis, as many have been
left as heads of households, with male family members killed, imprisoned, or
fired from their jobs because of their political ties.
In Brazil, the situation of violence
against women is extremely concerning, especially against Afro-descendant and
trans women. Our partners have documented that in the first two months of the
year 38 trans women have been killed in the country.[5]
This high level of violence makes the work of women human rights defenders –
especially those working on behalf of diverse communities of women – all the
more difficult and important.
Race and Equality calls on all Latin
American and Caribbean States to honor the human rights commitments they have
made under CEDAW and other applicable international human rights treaties, to
respect and protect the rights of women. We likewise reiterate our support for
women human rights defenders, especially those of our partner organizations and
in the countries where we work, who so courageously and tirelessly fight to
promote and defend the rights of women and others in the region on a daily
basis. We thank you and assure you that you are not alone in your work towards
a safer, more just, and equitable society for all.
UN Independent Expert visits Brazil on promotional mission co-organized by Race and Equality
Race and Equality co-organized a promotional visit of the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Victor Madrigal, to Brazil on January 20-25, to speak with leaders, activists, and members of LGBTI civil society groups about his work, better understand their realities, and strengthen means of communication between them and the mandate.
During the visit, the
Independent Expert participated in conversations with around 40 local LGBTI
organizations, including over 100 different activists, between three different
cities, and two public events. The visit took place in the cities of
Brasília, Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro.
Within the meetings with civil society organizations in Brasília, activists expressed their different concerns facing LGBTI populations, in particular, highlighting the difficulties faced due to the invisibilization of LGBTI people under the current government, and the lack of discourse on this topic in federal spaces. Lesbian activists from the groups Coturno de Vênus and the Brazilian Lesbian Association also brought attention to specific issues such as family-organized violence and cases of “forced intercourse” that are commonly practiced throughout Brazil, as well as the increased violence against Afro-Brazilian women.
On January 22, these conversations continued when Madrigal traveled to Salvador de Bahia where he participated in a public event organized by Race and Equality. The event titled “Afro-LGBTI Resistance: Intersectional perspectives for the fight for human rights,” opened a space for different Afro-Brazilian LGBTI activists from Salvador to speak on the realities they face, not only the city, but in the Brazilian state of Bahia due to the intersectionality of race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It is also important to note that Bahia contains the highest population of self-declared Afro-Brazilians out of any of the Brazilian states.
In this event, he presented the characteristics and scope of his mandate, indicating: “My mandate is designed to work with intersectionality. No person suffers discrimination from a single place as a gay man or woman, there are a number of identities that we gather in our body and there are multiple ways to express them. ” Likewise, he stated that the social structures that give people roles according to their genital configurations deny the individual freedom and identity of a human being.
“The mandate is not
interested in the word gender, we are interested in the recognition that within
societies exist structures that grant roles to people according to genital
settings, and those roles are creating the denial of individual freedom,”
added Victor Madrigal
Likewise, Madrigal also held conversations with activists and members of Afro-LGBTI civil society organizations in Salvador, gaining a deeper understanding of the reality of Afro-LGBTI people in this region. Throughout the country, the Afro-LGBTI population is overrepresented in many statistics on violence, murder, homelessness, and HIV infections. Activist Kukua Dada affirmed this, explaining that a blonde, white trans woman is more “passable” than any black trans woman, thus having a lower probability of suffering from violence.
In Bahia, faith
communities from African religions, which historically have welcomed the LGBTI
community, have also suffered from increased religious intolerance. Meetings were held with religious leaders Washington
Dias of the National Afro-LGBTI Network and Afro-trans activist Thiffany Odara,
who reported difficulties in maintaining their places of religious practice,
called “terreiros,” and pointed out discrimination from public officials who
did not give support to communities led by LGBTI people as they did for other
“terreiros.”
The visit was concluded in Rio de Janeiro, where, in light of Brazil’s Trans Visibility month, more focus was given to the local travesti and trans populations. The events began on the 24th with a meeting at Casa Nem, a safehouse for trans and travesti people, living in the city. The Independent Expert listened to the stories of how various trans men and women arrived at the house and how it has helped them since.
Similarly, in Salvador,
a meeting was held with Casa Aurora, a trans safe house that began its work
within the last year. In both of these spaces, the houses seek to provide
shelter for the homeless trans population, providing different programs such
as: socio-educational activities, psychological and psychiatric services,
community engagement, and much more. Both houses are very actively engaged on
social media and try to bring visibility to the importance of their work as
much as possible.
Indianare Siqueira,
leader of Casa Nem reiterated the importance of specialized shelters for the
LGBTI population, which is subject to more violence and discrimination when
trying to access or live in public shelters.
For this reason, the shelters try to not only provide housing, but also
a space for social interaction, which aims to make residents feel more
accepted, thus helping increase their self-esteem and regain their autonomy.
Panel
participants reported that they found it difficult to access general and
specific public services for transgender people, even when guaranteed by law,
due to the prejudice of the responsible public agents. They also pointed out
that there is bureaucratization and a considerable financial burden for the
legal recognition of gender identity, which makes it difficult for many
individuals to access this right. Additionally, leaders such as Alessandra
Ramos from Instituto Transformar, also drew attention to the contradiction of
their excessive visibility in public spaces, since the majority of the murder
of trans people in the country takes place on the streets, and the way they are
being made invisible by the absence of laws and public policies that address
their demands.
During his speech,
Madrigal mentioned the paradoxes that currently prevail around the world in
relation to the questioning of LGBTI lives. “I am witnessing a paradox in
all parts of the world in which advances in the protection of the rights of
LGBTI people are accompanied by a deluge of positions that question the lives
of LGBTI people,” he comments.
He also referred to the large number of policies that criminalize and make the existence of LGBTI lives in a large number of countries in the world invisible. Madrigal indicated that the conclusions of his work repeatedly reach the same place, and that is that structural processes in society perpetuate the notion that certain genital configurations determine the role that a person has in society, which is why, this principle of primary order has been instrumentalized through a series of mechanisms that the expert described as demonization, criminalization and pathologization or in other words “sin, crime, and disease.”
The following day the
floor was given to civil society groups to express their concerns on an array
of topics surrounding public health, education and labor, racial discrimination
and violence, among others.
The current
government has demoted the STI and HIV prevention department, suspended funds
for HIV prevention campaigns that target the LGBTI population specifically, and
has started a new awareness strategy based on encouraging sexual abstinence.
The government has also stopped collecting disaggregated HIV data for certain
populations, such as lesbian and bisexual women and trans men.
To conclude the public event in Rio, Madrigal left audience members with these important unifying words, “The state must make this recognition and this protection…This mandate that was created in the sense by the work of thousands of grassroots organizations in more than 170 countries … every day many people around the world are killed, beaten, tortured, mistreated, excluded from health, work, housing, for being who they are, and as a result of the people they love or desire. That is the work that we jointly carry out, the work that is also important for me to be able to connect with the international mechanisms that operate at the United Nations level.”
Race and Equality fully supports the work of the current mandate, and is finishing a report on the human rights situation of Afro-LGBTI people in Brazil that will be sent to the mandate in the coming months. We remain committed to working with our Brazilian partners on these issues and helping them bring more visibility, not only to these populations nationally, but internationally as well. A special thanks all of the organizations in Brazil who helped make this visit a success.
For more info about the visit please check out the following links below:
Race and Equality coordinates academic visit of UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Victor Madrigal.
The UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Mr. Victor Madrigal, will make an academic visit to Brazil, which will be coordinated by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights. (Race and Equality), January 20-25, to disclose the scope of the mandate to LGBTI civil society organizations.
As part of this visit, the Independent Expert will partake in two panel discussions on the problems and difficulties of this population in relation to the international standards of human rights. These two events will include a dialogue between LGBTI leaders and the Independent Expert, who will talk about the working tools and mechanisms available to them, as well as how these tools interact with the exercise and guarantees of the fundamental rights of civil society.
Race and Equality organized these events through collaboration with LGBTI civil society organizations.
January 22, 2020 Dialogue: “Afro-LGBTI Resistance – Intersectional Perspectives for the Human Rights Struggle” Confirm your presence here
January 22, 2020 Dialogue: Visibility in times of hate: Challenges for trans inclusion in the multilateral human rights agenda Confirm your presence here
On the morning of November 19, Brazilian trans activist Gilmara Cunha, president of Grupo Connection G, an organization that works for the LGBTI community in the Complex of Maré (the largest favela complex in Rio de Janeiro), reported on Facebook that her house had been hit with shots at dawn.
The cause of the shooting was one of the police operations that occur in the sector under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking, which has become one of the problems that has most affected the lives of the favela population in Rio de Janeiro.
According to data from the Public Security Institute, from January to August 2019 alone, there were 1,144 deaths caused by police officers[1]. The number is 18.3% higher than data for the same period last year, when there were 967 murders. An analysis by the UOL news site that considered the data for the first half of 2019, showed that of the 881 deaths recorded in police operations to date, occurring in areas controlled by drug trafficking[2].
The current governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro,
Wilson Witzel, was elected in 2018 with a speech backed by the fight against
drug trafficking. In an interview last year, before taking office, Witzel had
already stated that police officers who killed drug traffickers with rifles
should not be held liable “under any circumstances” in a true murder
policy[3].
According to the Maré Vive site, a
communication channel that the community made in collaboration with the Complex
of Maré residents from different parts, and who are observers of the police
operations that occur in the area, the Special Operations Command Police
launched an operation at 4:50 a.m. on November 19, in the Parque Unión, Rubens
Vaz, Tide Park and New Holland neighborhoods, all favelas that make up the Maré
Complex and the poorest in the sector.
At 5:36 in the morning, the Maré Vive page announced that shots were heard to warn people not to leave their homes for their safety.
A few hours later Gilmara Cunha’s publication was made, which showed images of the bullet holes in her house. In the publication, Gilmara states that she is proud to be a travesti and a resident of black neighborhoods and slums, but warns that measures must be taken on the situation of violence experienced by people in the favelas, and that it is necessary to discuss racism as a way to build security policies.
This is not the first time Gilmara Cunha has been affected by police operations. In September of this year, we denounced the case that happened during the 1st LGBTI Culture and Citizenship Festival of Favelas, an event with artistic, political, and professional presentations, organized by Connection G, which interrupted its activities due to a police operation in the Favela of Maré. Two inhabitants were killed during the operation, which lasted approximately 20 hours. People who attended the event had to remain locked up until the shooting ceased. Two days later, during the LGBTI Parade of the Favela da Maré, Gilmara Cunha shouted from the top of the car:
“This
State kills us every day! Stop killing us! We are here claiming lives! We live
these days practically in the midst of violence, where the police entered our
homes, murdered residents, and we cannot allow that to happen! This city is not
a separate city! Maré is part of this city! We cannot accept it as if it were
normal! Enough! Enough! Stop killing our slum population! We are here to claim
rights! Being here today is an act of resistance!
About the Connection G Group
Gilmara Cunha is a national reference in the LGBTI
movement in Brazil. Not surprisingly, on December 8, 2015, she was awarded the
Tiradentes Medal, the highest honor granted by the Legislative Assembly of the
State of Rio de Janeiro (ALERJ in Portuguese) for the services she provided to
the community.
The Connection G Group, chaired by Gilmara, is a civil
society organization that has been working since 2006, with the mission of
fighting for public policies on human rights, health, public education and
security for LGBTI people living in the Favela of Maré. One of them is
“Just like you, I also demand my rights!” The objective is, through
citizenship and rights classes, to promote the human rights of black transgender
women and transvestites in the favelas of Maré and Palmares, to help minimize
violations of their rights and promote respect for their lives.
In August 2019, due to the academic visit by Commissioner
Margarette May Macaulay to Brazil, promoted by Race and Equality, the
Commissioner met the transsexual and transvestite women who participate in this
project in the favela.
At a moving meeting, reports of transvestites who were
threatened and shot by police officers and who were hit on purpose, exposed for
their HIV status in health systems, and many other stories of human rights
violations were heard.
It is remarkable that Connection G performs unique work that
reaches people whose lives and demands are unseen: the LGBTI population of the
poorest neighborhoods.
Race and Equality calls on the Brazilian State to protect
the work of human rights defenders and change the logic with which it acts
towards people of African descent in the slums. We will continue to monitor the
human rights violations of the Afro-LGBTI community in Brazil and will continue
to demand that the Brazilian State respect their lives.
[1] Data
from the Public Security Institute. Available at:
http://www.ispvisualizacao.rj.gov.br/index.html
[2] UOL. La
policía mató a 881 personas en 6 meses en RJ. Ninguno en el área de la
milicia. 20 de agosto de 2019. Available at:
https://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/ultimas-noticias/2019/08/20/policias-mataram-881-pessoas-em-6-meses-no-rj
-no-in-militia.htm? cmpid = copiaecola
[3] UOL. “La policía apuntará a la
cabecita y … disparará”, dice Wilson Witzel. 1 de noviembre de
2018. Disponible en:
https://noticias.uol.com.br/ultimas-noticias/agencia-estado/2018/11/01/a-policia-vai-mirar-na-cabecinha-e-fogo
-firms-wilson-witzel.htm? cmpid = copiaecola
No more impunity! International Transgender Day of Remembrance
On Trans
Remembrance Day, The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
(Race and Equality) stands in solidarity with the struggles of trans women
against the various forms of violence they have been victims of, particularly
the violence that has obstructed their lives. The fight against the murder of
trans people must be the fundamental basis of any discussion on the
implementation of policies or recognition of gender identity. This is the most
basic task of all States.
Brazil remains the country with the highest number of trans people murdered in the world. The dossier on murders and violence against transvestites and transsexuals in Brazil of 2018, prepared by the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA), noted that, in 2018 alone, 163 murders of transgender people occurred, 82% of them black. The largest number of trans people were killed in the state of Rio de Janeiro, with a total of 16 murders. According to current ANTRA data, as of November 11, at least 106 transgender people have been killed in Brazil this year(2019).
Murders of trans
people also occur in all other Latin American and Caribbean countries. The effort of some civil society
organizations to better document this violence has resulted in various regional
observatories that monitor violence throughout the region such as: Sin Violencia LGBT, la Red
Lactrans, and the ILGALAC,
among others. However, these valuable efforts do not replace the duty of States
to adequately register and investigate these acts. The UN Independent Expert on
protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender
identity and gender expression stated in his 2019 report on data collection and
management:
“The breakdown of data that allows comparisons to be made between population groups is part of States’ obligations in the field of human rights, and has become an element of the human rights-based approach to data use.”
Accordingly, we highlight the relevance of not only adequately characterizing violence against the trans population, but also having a better characterization that accounts for their socio-economic situation, educational contexts, and racial characteristics, as it appears that in countries like Brazil, the magnitude of gender identity violence, especially violence against trans people, has had a particular impact on people of African descent.
This task, apart
from being carried out through adequate investigation and prosecution work from
a criminal perspective, must be accompanied by preventive actions in the
different areas of rights protection.
Some actions to adopt include the construction of policies that respond
to the origin of multicausal violence, the prevention of domestic violence due
to gender identity, transphobic bullying in educational settings, adequate
health care with a differential approach, as well as actions of transformation
and openness in work spaces.
From Race and Equality, and in alliance with the civil society organizations with whom we work in the Latin American region, we will continue to demand that integral political States denaturalize violence against trans people, and the oversight of names and lives that also deserve to be lived with full respect for their dignity and full guarantee of their rights.
“The situation of violence against Afro-LGBTI people is invisible and systematic in Latin America” Activists warn the IACHR
Quito,
Ecuador. November 12, 2019. In the thematic hearing held during the 174 period of Hearings of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Quito, Ecuador, LGBTI activists
and Afro-descendants from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru
presented on the situation of violence, lack of protection, and lack of
knowledge of their prevailing rights in each of these States.
Throughout the
space, the activists highlighted how Afro-descendants with sexual orientations
and non-normative gender identities are at greater risk of suffering from violations
of their rights, especially by the States’ general lack of knowledge on the
differentiated effects suffered by people living this reality.
Likewise, the activists presented a summary of different cases of murder and violence against transgender people and Afro-descendants, especially those committed with a high degree of cruelty and hatred; in addition to remaining completely unpunished.
Bruna Benavides, ANTRA activist
“In
January of this year, in Brazil, a trans woman had her heart torn out and then replaced
by the image of a saint. Her murderer was acquitted of the charge, even though
he narrated in great detail how he had killed her and kept her heart at home
with a smile on his face,” said Afro-Brazilian activist Bruna Benavides, a
member of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals, or ANTRA in
Brazil.
According to
information given by Benavides, this year alone, 110 trans people were killed
in Brazil, 85% of them black. Likewise, the activist reported that 90% of the
population of transvestites and trans women in this country are engaged in
prostitution due to the lack of job opportunities.
Furthermore, she
pointed out that this group of people are recurring victims of different State
institutions due to the inaccessibility of appropriate healthcare services and
of fair employment opportunities and recognition, as well as having a lack of respect
for their identities. In this regard, Benavides added ,“… today we
are afraid to walk the streets again, and as a defender of human rights, I do
not feel safe despite the progress we have made because our leaders have common
policies of racist hatred , male chauvinism…”
In this order, the leader Justo Arevalo representative of the Colombian organizations Arco Iris de Tumaco, the National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations (CNOA), and Somos Identidad, highlighted that contexts of rejection, violence, and discrimination within these communities towards people who assume a non-normative sexual orientation or gender identity create other types of cyclical and systemic violence that threaten the integrity of AfroLGBTI people. An example of this is in Colombia, where there is forced displacement towards cities that sharpen the circles of violence in which these people live.
Justo Arevalo, Colombian activist
“In March
of 2019, a report on the realities experienced by Afro-LGBTI people was filed
in Bogotá before the Jurisdiction for Peace, whose main findings show that
documented violence and impact are blocked by very racial and class-particular
relations, typical of the sociocultural, economic, and political environment in
which they occur, prejudice as a factor of violence, and the responsibility of
illegal armed actors in the face of serious violations of rights against Afro LGBT
people, “Arevalo
added in his speech.
Belén Zapata, an
Afro-descendant trans activist from Peru, alerted the audience of the impact
that police abuse has on the lives of Afro-descendant and transvestite people,
highlighting that it sets a pattern of deep violence against their right to
personal integrity in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican
Republic, and Peru.
Likewise, the
activist referred to the access of healthcare services by trans-descendant
Afro-descendant women in the region, which is characterized in its generality
for not being efficient or worthy of use by this population.
In this regard,
the activist added: “There are still cases in which medical personnel
offer inadequate and/or improper care to Afro-descendant transgender women.
This pattern is particularly serious in cases of care for Afro-descendant
transgender women who perform sex work and are taken in for injuries as a
result of physical aggressions. But also, in cases where the request for other
services is related to reproductive health or HIV / AIDS. “
Violation of
the rights of Afro-LGBTI people is systematic
“As long
as we avoid highlighting the intersection between race and sexual diversity, we
will continue to perpetuate a system that makes the Afro-descendant LGBTI
community invisible; we will continue to have legal structures, public policies,
and government institutions that do not protect or guarantee the human rights
of the Afro LGBTI population,” added Katherine Ventura, representative of the American University Legal
Clinic. She also pointed out that there are patterns of violence that are
particular to the Afro-LGBTI population, naming three: 1) Absence of rights’
guarantees focused on the Afro-LGBTI community; 2) Lack of implementation of
existing laws and 3) Inadequate data collection, particularly in criminal
investigation processes against Afro-LGBTI people.
On this matter,
the Commissioners of the IACHR indicated the responsibility of the States to
collect data, generate policies, and promote processes that guarantee the reparation,
respect, and recognition of the rights of Afro-LGBTI people. In this regard, Commissioner
Margarette May Macaulay urged States to ratify the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination as an alternative that seeks to
address the issues of Afro-descendants with sexual orientations and
non-normative gender identities.
To finalize the hearing, the organizations requested that the IACHR to urge the States of Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru to:
1. Urgently investigate cases of homicide and police abuse that
involve Afro-LGBTI persons and, consequently, register and characterize them
properly.
2. Implement the recommendations of the Afro-LGBTI
population that this Commission has made since 2015, particularly those focused
on the development of public policies that explicitly include the Afro-LGBTI
population.
3. As part of the fulfillment of the objectives proposed in
the Decade of Afro-descendants 2015-2024, the Afro-LGBTI population should be
included as a beneficiary of justice and development-oriented measures in the
region, and it should be requested that all states comply with the
recommendations of the Inter-American Commission regarding the importance of
providing differentiated data on sexual orientation and gender identity.
4. Suggest the ratification of the Inter-American Convention
against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Intolerances and the
Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance
to all States.
5. That the Inter-American Commission publish the report of the on-site visit to Brazil in 2018 and the rapporteur on the rights of Afro-descendants and racial discrimination visit Brazil to better know the situation of the Afro-LGBTI population, with effective participation of civil society organizations.
XXIII National Meeting of the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals(ANTRA): “Addressing Prejudice and Stigma with Combined HIV Prevention”
Last week, October 28-31, the 23rd national meeting of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA) took place, a network of Brazilian trans organizations working to promote the rights of transgender people. The meeting’s theme was “Addressing Prejudice and Stigma with Combined HIV Prevention,” and was attended by around 60 trans activists representing all 21 states of Brazil.
Pitty Barbosa, ANTRA activist
The meeting took
place in the city of Tapes, 108km from Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio
Grande do Sul. The option of holding the national meeting outside of the main
metropolitan areas of the country was due to the great invisibility of human
rights violations that occur far from large urban centers where all major
events occur. Indeed, during the meeting, many activists reported their
precarious conditions for reporting human rights violations and for giving
visibility to the murders that occur without any media coverage.
“Throughout Brazil, inland cities are largely abandoned by all LGBTI policy managers and portfolios. We must have a more direct and incisive look at this population which is so devoid of rights. This is why we need to do more actions outside of the principal cities. ” Pitty Barbosa, from the city of Iguaíba which is located in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, affiliated with ANTRA
Due to a lack of
resources, the meeting did not happen two years ago. Besides this, unlike in
other years in which it was possible to hold regional meetings prior to the
national ones, there were no resources or structure to hold the regional
meetings, which made it impossible to gain a deeper understanding before the
debates.
HIV epidemic in Brazil
Brazil is
currently experiencing a new HIV epidemic. According to the latest data from
the epidemiological bulletin released annually by the Ministry of Health,
between 2007 and 2017, the number of young people infected with HIV jumped from
1,320 to 10,618, a growth of about 700%.
However, the alarming increase in the number of cases of HIV infections, AIDS illness and deaths due to opportunistic diseases has not reached all sections of the population in a homogeneous way. AIDS in Brazil has class, race, gender and sexuality.
For example, by
analyzing data on race / color and gender categories over the past 10 years for
AIDS deaths, major discrepancies are observed. While, in the last 10 years,
white men and women have experienced a large reduction in the number of deaths
from 5461 in 2007 to 4352 in 2017, the same has not happened for the black
population. In 2007 there were 5111 deaths of black men and women, while in
2017 the number rose to 6699.
A similar
movement is observed if we look at infections by sexuality. In 2007
heterosexual men accounted for 46.7% (1230) of those exposed to HIV in Brazil,
and in 2017 they represented 34.1% (9027). Men who have sex with men, in turn,
went from 45% (1569) to 63.3% (16633) in the same time period, becoming a large
majority, and showing that there was a failure in prevention.
Representatives
of the Ministry of Health who attended the ANTRA meeting mentioned a recently
commissioned survey by the Ministry that estimated that today about 40% of
Brazil’s population of transvestites and transgender women live with HIV.
However, throughout the epidemiological bulletin, there is no mention of
transgender people.
This
unfeasibility reveals how cis-heteronormativity is positioned as the universal
parameter of Brazilian institutions, which are not committed to the lives of
trans people in the country.
This is because transvestites and transgender women are, as a rule, allocated to the category of “men who have sex with men” unless, in theory, they have been able to rectify their name and sex on the civil registry.
In any case, the ANTRA meeting was an opportunity for the various activists who were present to learn, on one hand, about the mechanisms of combined HIV prevention, asking which strategies make the most sense for the reality of transvestites and transsexuals, who do not have the same level of information and access to state resources as cis white gay men living in urban centers.
Also, several difficulties that this population faces in their day-to-day life concerning the healthcare system were shared, such as: people who had their serology exposed to their communities, doctors who missed their appointments on the day that their viral load would occur, health professionals who did not have the antiretroviral drug on the day they should get the drugs, among many other things that have an impact on transvestites and transgender women’s ability to gain access to HIV treatment in Brazil. At a time when the fundamentalist conservatism that has been growing in Brazil has been trying to curb HIV prevention campaigns so as not to “sexualize” young people, the organizations that attended the ANTRA meeting were unanimous about the need for support for prevention policies that can come through, directly to the population that needs it the most.
The lives of transgender people cannot be set aside. Race and Equality remains committed to supporting organizations working to combat racism, machismo, and LGBTI phobia in the country, also when expressed at an institutional dimension. We congratulate the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals for the event, and call on the Brazilian State to promote specifics aimed at facing the HIV / AIDS epidemic at a time when the black, LGBT, and especially the trans population has been so hit by this epidemic.
