International Women’s Day: WE ARE WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE AND ALL OF US ARE DIVERSE!

International Women’s Day: WE ARE WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE AND ALL OF US ARE DIVERSE!

On March 8, 2019, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) remembers and stands with the struggle of all women throughout the world for recognition and guarantees of their rights.

Despite the many efforts and clear progress made in the area of rights to improve the state of women in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially as regards the closure of gender gaps, and guarantee women’s real and effective access to health, education, employment, and political and economic participation, the huge challenge remains of overcoming the inequities that persist in virtually all spheres, particularly  when dealing with women who are racialized, ethnic, rural, or have diverse gender identities.

According to the data provided by Michelle Bachelet, the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in an article entitled The State of Women in Latin America: 25 Years of Light and Shadows, 9,300 women die every year from causes related to pregnancy and their deficient gynecological-obstetric practices.  For every 100 men who live in poverty, 118 women live in a similar state, a figure that accounts for a systematic increase in poverty among women in the region since 1997 and up to the present day.

Despite the fact that women’s participation in the labor market has made notable strides, women continue to be a minority presence, marked by a series of “micro-aggressions” related to gender parity, the reason for which, according to CEPAL, women’s participation in the labor market has stalled at around 53%, and the 78.1% of women who work are in sectors defined by CEPAL as having low productivity, entailing worse remuneration, low social security coverage, and less contact with technology and innovation.

As regards women’s political participation, the challenge remains to increasing the presence of women in spaces of power to thereby transform the patriarchal structures that make it impossible for women to have a presence in governments, the management of public and private businesses, and in the development of laws.  “As long as we are not allowed to be decision-makers [or] participate in spaces of power, the possibility of leveling the playing field and building our societies under equal conditions will be a utopia,” notes the chief.  

In the area of gender-based violence, Latin America and the Caribbean continue to present the highest rate of assaults against women, ranked 14 among the 25 countries with the highest indices of femicide in the world.  Approximately 2,100 women are assassinated every year (six per day and 175 every month) for the simple fact of being women, according to what Bachelet indicated.

The foregoing provides a quick glance at the state of women’s rights in the region; nonetheless, a series of factors that run contrary to them have cross-cut the recognition of women’s diversity and the particularity of their conditions vis-à-vis the enforceability of rights; that is, rural women, Afro-descendant women, and those with diverse sexual and gender identities additionally confront other types of violence that we should make visible on this day.

According to the CEPAL report Afro-Descendant Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Debts of Equality, the ‘visibilization’ of the historic presence of Afro-descendant women demands recognition of their concrete experience as women who live within a historical, social, and cultural context of slave-owning and racist societies.  Contexts, therefore, that deepen the inequities faced by Afro-descendant women as compared with other social groups, due to their ‘invisibilization’ as subjects of differentiated policies with particular impacts and thus, worrisome indices of poverty, little possibility to access healthcare, education, employment, and participation in decision-making spaces much lower that that of the rest of the population, further undermined by racist and discriminatory logic that is a product of the historical legacy manifested in the ways in which Afro-descendant peoples develop in society.

Something similar occurs with lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex women who throughout history have confronted physical and symbolic violence incorporated into the social group that makes it impossible for their sexual and gender identities to be recognized and thus, have their fundamental rights guaranteed.

According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association (ILGA), persons who self-identify as having an identity that differs from cisgender (socially concordant with the sex assigned at birth) or are socially recognized [as such], suffer from innumerable human rights violations.  In particular, in Latin America women are the recipients of a series of violent acts on the part of male chauvinists who stigmatize and/or pigeonhole them in roles in which they are not allowed to freely express themselves and recognize their identity.  It is thus that on average, the life expectancy of trans women is no greater than 30 years; their participation in the labor market lags behind, a high percentage of them work in the informal sector or as sexual workers, and they confront violent and complex processes for accessing health [and] education services and participating in spaces of decision-making and power.

We at Race & Equality call on all of the States of Latin America and the Caribbean to continue working to ensure guarantees and recognition of women’s rights.  Unquestionably, empowered women break the cycles of violence and poverty, decisive factors in making progress in consolidating societies that are more equitable and democratic.  To ensure that result, it is essential to continue working to break historically rooted patriarchal schemas, especially as they relate to women’s participation in decision-making spaces.

We urge the States to not lose sight of plurality and diversity in the construction of what it means to be a woman, in which it is essential to undertake affirmative actions that recognize Afro-descendant [and] rural women and women with diverse sexual and gender identities, in this way breaking the barriers that historically have systematically prevented the inclusion and participation of this group of women in social life and ensured that their future generations were subject to the same vicious cycle of inequality, racism, and discrimination.

Afro-Colombian organization and American University research group work together to document the state of the Afro-LGBTI population’s rights in Colombia

An American University research group, together with the Fundación Afrodescendiente por las Diversidades Sociales y Sexuales [Afro-descendant Foundation for Social and Sexual Diversity] (Somos Identidad [We Are Identity]), are documenting the violence threatening the lives and [physical] integrity of Afro-Colombians due to their sexual orientation or diverse gender identity.

With support from the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) within the framework of the research project undertaken by Race & Equality and seven other organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean in pursuit of the objective of documenting the state of the rights of Afro and LGBTI persons’ rights in the region, Somos Identidad, in partnership with a research group from the American University Washington College of Law, is documenting and analyzing the political-legal context in which Afro-Colombians’ diverse sexual orientations and gender identities are immersed, with a particular consideration of those aspects that guarantee or make it impossible for these groups of people to fully enjoy their fundamental rights.

According to Johana Caicedo, the legal representative of Somos Identidad, Colombia is one of the countries in the region that has taken the greatest legislative strides in the area of the LGBTI and Afro-descendant populations’ rights.  Nonetheless, no legislative work exists at the intersection of these two variables to guarantee and safeguard the rights of Afro-LGBTI persons.  While legislation exists, its materialization in guaranteeing rights remains weak and this tends to have a profound effect on the enforceability of the rights of this group of people that has been structurally and historically marginalized, added Caicedo.

During the days the Afro-Colombian organization of the Universidad del Valle del Cauca [Cauca Valley University] and American University research group worked together the last week in February and first week of March 2019, they met with sexually diverse black/Afro individuals in Cali; held various encounters with activists [and] representatives of Afro and LGBTI social organizations such as Santa María Fundación [Saint Mary Foundation]; and hosted spaces for dialogue with representatives of governmental entities such as the Ministry of Government of the Cauca Valley, Cali Mayor’s Office, and the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Nation.

 

We expect this research material will contribute to the creation of a map of the state of the Afro-LGBTI population’s rights in Colombia and its consolidation as an advocacy tool in the Inter-American System on behalf of this group of individuals.

Public Communiqué: we urge the Colombian State to immediately address the disappearance of Afro-Colombians exiled in Ecuador after being threatened

Bogotá, Colombia, March 4, 2019 – The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) joins its voice to the denunciation issued by the Asociación Nacional de Afrocolombianos Desplazados [National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians] (AFRODES) to forcefully and urgently call on the Colombian State to immediately address the disappearance, since February 27 in Quito, Ecuador, of Plácido Tercero Escalante and Ana Gloria Cabezas, Afro-Colombian victims of forced displacement in Colombia and members of FUNDAFRO, an organization affiliated with the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES).

Plácido and Ana Gloria were forced to flee Colombia and request asylum in the neighboring country of Ecuador together with their families in January after receiving numerous threats and receiving no protection from Colombian authorities to guarantee their lives and [physical] integrity.

Erlendy Cuero, Vice President of AFRODES, notes that some days prior to their disappearance Ana Gloria and Plácido had denounced seeing in Quito the persons who had threatened them in their own territory, and for that reason were summoned to issue a declaration before the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Ecuador after they had reported their state of risk.  According to what AFRODES reports, since that day the whereabouts of the two popular social leaders have been unknown.

We strongly condemn what has transpired [and] urge the Colombian State to immediately address the situation of defenselessness and lack of guarantees confronted by popular social sectors that are immersed in an ongoing war in territories being fought over by illegal groups.  Likewise, we urge the international community to publicly denounce the systematic state of risk in which Colombia’s ethnic peoples find themselves, as they are particularly impacted by the social, political, and economic conflict faced by the country.  In addition, we urge Colombian State authorities to act promptly in order to find Ana and Plácido alive.

Gender- and race-based micro-aggressions perpetrated against Afro-trans women

Washington, DC, February 12, 2019 – Within the framework of a series of training processes put forward by the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality), the second encounter of the dialogue ‘Why Speak About Afro-LGBTI?’ was held on February 12, 2019 in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic with more than 60 activists and human rights defenders participating, primarily Afro-LGBTI persons, from Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic who were convened by the organization Trans Siempre Amigas [Trans Always Friends] (TRANSSA).

This second dialogue space, moderated by Christian King of TRANSSA, began with a focus on the discrimination experienced by the Afro-trans activist Belén Zapata, a member of the Afro-Peruvian youth organization Ashanti, in the process of entering the city of Santo Domingo, in the Las Américas Airport.

The discrimination Belén confronted can be summarized by stating that after she cleared the legal immigration controls and was proceeding to exit the airport, an employee retained her passport without identifying himself or giving a reason for his action, forcing her to stand against a wall for around 40 minutes while being stared at by people in the airport.  Afterward, she was led, together with a group of 10 others (most of whom were Afro-descendants), to other controls and scans in which she was repeatedly checked until [the employees] finally concluded she was not carrying drugs.  Belén received no response to her questions as to the reasons for this procedure; only by the end did she herself deduce she was being submitted to a drug-check.  She was informed that it was a routine check performed on new visitors to the country.

The entire incident experienced by Belén did not last longer than an hour.  The situation itself did not generate any legal consequences against her, no physical violence was employed, and furthermore, the procedures apparently were being justified by a confusing argument of drug-control and standard procedures employed with new visitors to the country.  The responsible parties?  After Race & Equality issued a communiqué and tweet denouncing the situation, Aerodom (the entity that operates the Dominican Republic’s airports) indicated that it is a private entity and that other entities were in fact responsible.  Conclusion?  There is no specific entity that can respond to this situation.

Within the framework of the roundtable conversation, the participants reflected on the normalization of this type of aggression.  Although its effects entail several violations – such as the violation of due process, unjustified restriction of movement, and arbitrary abuse of authority – we view these situations as minor because they do not entail extremely grave physical abuse.  In this sense, we are dealing with what is known as ‘micro-aggressions’ [‘micro-violencias’] that become normalized by the victims, who do not view them as grave or simply because they have no expectation of receiving a response when they denounce them to the authorities.

Belén’s courage was obvious during the conversation as she spoke about this situation, given that some of the attendees at the event had talked about similar situations they had experienced, whether due to their race, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity.  Likewise, the gravity of these incidents was discussed, when the lack of identification from officials and arbitrary nature of the procedures hinders the pinpointing of specific responsibility.  In addition, the group questioned the airport authorities’ lack of coordinated work strategies in this case which, as in other cases, is the result of viewing the response to situations of structural discrimination as being the responsibility of others rather than everyone’s responsibility.

Another situation narrated by an Afro-trans participant illustrated the limitations of her access to healthcare as a trans woman.  The participant described a situation in which she was the object of mockery when she asked to be seen by a urologist for problems associated with her prostate.  For this simple fact she was ridiculed and initially refused copies of the medical exams that had been performed on her, though she was finally able to get them due to her insistence.

Again, while she had access to medical attention and the situation can be described as a simple matter of incorrect attention provided to the user, this type of aggression that can appear to be ‘micro’ in fact has a profound impact on trans persons’ confidence in medical institutions and in this case, that of Afro-trans [persons].  This is a situation in which medical services become tortuous and health or even life itself are put at risk when the refusal of services leads to individuals deciding on their own to stop seeking adequate medical attention.

These two simple reflections on the aggressions visited upon Afro-trans women, while they deviated us from the classic discussions regarding the grave violence committed against the Afro, trans, and LGBTI populations, placed front and center the fact that oftentimes the root cause of the grave violations experienced by these populations is found in daily life, in the degeneration of a service or irregular procedures which, while not leaving permanent traces, have the effect, drop by drop, of wearing away Afro-trans persons’ human dignity and integrity.

Thanks to the support of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State, Race & Equality was able to sponsor the event and facilitate the attendance of the international invitees.

COMMUNIQUÉ: We reject discriminatory and arbitrary acts on the part of the Santa Domingo airport authorities committed against Afro-LGBT leader

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) rejects the discriminatory treatment of an Afro-Peruvian trans leader by airport authorities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Yesterday, February 10, human rights activist and Afro transgender leader Belén Zapata of the organization Ashanti Perú was the victim of irregular and discriminatory treatment on the part of airport authorities who arbitrarily withheld the activist’s passport due to her ethnic-racial identity and gender identity.

Belén, who was to participate in the Second Afro-LGBTI Encounter organized by Race & Equality, cleared the regular immigration controls of the Las Américas Airport in Santo Domingo and then proceeded, along with all the other passengers, to customs control in order to leave the airport.  However, when she presented the required documentation and began to exit, she was intercepted by an employee of the airport who did not identify himself by name or the entity to which he belonged.  From the testimony provided by Belén, it was possible at a glance to determine that he was a police official.

During the supposed “regular” protocol, according to what the police indicated to Belén, he withheld her passport for more than 40 minutes while she was forced to wait against a wall near the airport exit.  Although the Afro-Peruvian leader repeatedly requested information regarding the process that was being carried out, she never received an answer.  Belén’s passport records her legal masculine name; nonetheless, her gender identity is feminine, the reason for which on trips abroad she has suffered through these types of arbitrary airport controls with no legal justification.

“The police spoke to me using the masculine linguistic forms, but I corrected him and told him I was a woman, as he could see,” declared Belén in her denunciation.

During her time waiting at the airport exit, Belén was exposed to between 40 and 60 minutes of treatment that violated her rights to freedom of movement and to be informed regarding the processes being carrying out.  This type of violence, although it appears to be minor, is oftentimes the daily reality of trans women in general and even more so that of Afro-trans women in Peru, the Dominican Republic, and in general throughout Latin America.  Trans women are victims of the arbitrary exercise [of power] by public authorities who make them out to be criminal subjects and restrict their rights, in this case the right to freedom of movement, with no legal justification.

According to Belén’s account, after the wait, she was taken by the airport employee, along with another group of people, most of whom were Afro-descendants, to a drug-identification scanner.  Afterward, she was authorized to leave the airport without being notified at any point of the reasons or reasoning behind said protocol.

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights, Ashanti Perú-Red Peruana de Jóvenes Afrodescendientes [Peruvian Network of Afro-descendant Youth], and Trans Siempre Amigas [Trans Always Friends] (TRANSSA) call on Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI [Century XXI Dominican Airports] (Aerodom), the Cuerpo Especializado en Seguridad Aeroportuaria y de la Aviación Civil [Specialized Airport Security and Civil Aviation Corps] (CESAC), and the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas [National Directorate for Drug Control] (DNCD) with operations in the Las Américas Aiport in Santo Domingo to investigate these incidents, issue a statement about them, publicly ask for forgiveness from the young woman who was affected, and initiate training processes for its employees on respecting Afro-trans persons.

14 Afro-descendant, indigenous, and campesino leaders assassinated during the first month of 2019

Bogota, Colombia.  January 29 2019. The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) expresses profound concern regarding the alarming number of grassroots social leaders assassinated in Colombia through the end of the first month of the year, a period in which approximately 14 homicides of male and female indigenous people, Afro-descendants, and campesinos were reported.

We emphatically reject and condemn the systematicity of the acts of violence, especially those directed against the Afro-descendant and indigenous populations in the country – peoples who have been historically marginalized and abused due to structural poverty, forced displacement, [and] a lack of access to healthcare, education, employment, and protective guarantees that ensure the integrity of their fundamental rights.

We urge the Colombian State and people to not ignore the number of Afro-Colombian human rights defenders who were assassinated through the end of 2018, which according to the figure reported by the Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento [Consulting Office on Human Rights and Displacement] (CODHES) totals 20 homicides (17 men and three women) out of the 54 assassinations of leaders of ethnic communities.

We also demand that the Colombian State undertake efforts to guarantee the lives and protection of those men and women who dedicate their lives to the territory.  Likewise, we issue a special call on the State to provide differentiated protection mechanisms that are necessary for ethnic communities, especially recognizing the impacts suffered by Afro-Colombian and indigenous women who are direct victims of the armed conflict and at a great disadvantage as compared with the rest of the population: in light of not having guarantees of social protection, economic autonomy, or recognition of their rights, their rights are doubly violated.  We demand justice, truth, and guarantees that NO impunity will shroud the lives of the leaders Maritza Ramírez Chaverra (Tumaco), Maritza Quiróz Leiva (Magdalena), and María Ortega (Norte de Santander).  The deaths of these women – who are today victims of the bloody state of violence in the country – leave great voids not only in their families but also in society due to their absence, due to a generalized fear generated by the continuing fight for and defense of human rights in the territory.

With extreme concern we urge the national government to undertake all possible efforts to guarantee there will be NO impunity surrounding the more than 500 homicides of social leaders that have plunged the country into its current mourning.  Likewise, we highlight the need to adopt all possible protective measures to ensure the lives and integrity of the leaders who continue in a state of risk, the reason for which we call on the international community to show solidarity in the face of the national emergency and continue to monitor the grave and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of human rights defenders.

We urge the Colombian government and all social groups involved in making possible the construction of a stable and lasting peace throughout Colombian territory to make dialogue the only legitimate method tor finding a negotiated and peaceful exit from the armed conflict that continues to be latent in the country.

COLOMBIA: NOT ONE STEP BACK, ONWARD TOWARD PEACE! – Pronouncement –

Bogotá, Colombia, January 18, 2019 – The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) emphatically rejects and condemns the acts of violence that have plunged Colombians into mourning during the first 15 days of the year.  We condemn all types of violence that threaten the intention of the Colombian people to advance in the joint construction of a stable and lasting peace throughout the territory.

The assassination of the 10 social leaders that increases the shocking number of deaths of human rights defenders following the signing of the Peace Accords in September 2016 and the recent terrorist attack on the Escuela General Santander [General Santander School] in the city of Bogotá have to date left a total of 21 dead and 68 injured, according to what has been reported by national media outlets, are evidence of the looming need for the Colombian government and society in general to continue working on behalf of the peace process.

Despite the environment of uncertainty generated by the incidents that have occurred in the country in the midst of a growing awakening of the social mobilization rejecting the arbitrary governmental policies, among other things, and in favor of access to education, the financing law, and everything related to land access, tenure, and use, as well as a general repudiation of the assassination of more than 365 leaders who were assassinated in 2016 and 2018 (which still does not appear to have produced a sufficient response in the form of urgent and immediate measures the national government should put in place to guarantee the lives of its people), we encourage Colombians to continue to pursue with determination the search for and construction of peace, employing dialogue as the only path in all social spheres in order to process the conflicts that threaten the legitimate right to enjoy a decent life.

As an organization that is committed to defending and promoting human rights, we urgently call on the Colombian government, all of its institutions, dissident groups of the former guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] (FARC EP), and the allied armed group Ejército de Liberación Nacional [National Liberation Army] (ELN), so that, with an awareness of the profound responsibility to construct a society in peace, they will commit themselves to the need to make progress through peaceful dialogue in the face of a war that has lasted more than 50 years and left an abhorrent number of victims who deserve the emphatic commitment of their leaders, social organizations, and society in general as an alternative for negotiating differences and constructing a society defined by social justice.

We urge the international community to continue monitoring and accompanying the Colombian State in the process of constructing peace through truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of no repetition.

 

November 20 – International Day of Transsexual Memory

“I am convinced that the engine of change is love.  The love we were denied
is our impetus to change the world.  All of the blows and slights
I suffered cannot compare with the infinite
love that surrounds me at this time.”
– Lohana Berkins (1965-2016), transvestite activist

On the International Day of Transsexual Memory, the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights honors the memory of transsexuals who have lost their lives as a result of acts of intolerance, hate, and discrimination due to their gender identity in Latin America and the Caribbean.  November 20 is also a day to celebrate the lives of transsexuals who, despite social exclusion, limits on exercising their rights, and the absence of social policies that address their basic needs, continue their fight to defend their rights and construct networks of social transformation starting from their local milieus.

Discrimination, violence, segregation against transsexuals, and diverse gender-based segregation constitute a structural aspect of society; therefore, throughout history, their rights have been subject to a vicious cycle of violence, degradation, and oppression that has made it harder for them to enjoy the guarantees of a decent and complete life.

Around the world, transsexuals are subject to mockery, blackmail, physical and sexual assault, and assassination due to their diverse identities.  In addition, they are denied the opportunity to decent employment, medical care in keeping with their needs, and to be seen as subjects worthy of respect and recognition in society.  The stigma to which transsexuals are subject leads to the ‘invisibilization’ of their realities and experiences, as well as ignorance regarding the multiple challenges, barriers, and human rights violations they face.  It is thus that in the majority of countries, data on violence against transsexuals and gender-diverse persons are not systematically produced; therefore, it becomes impossible to calculate the exact number of cases.

Race & Equality observes with concern how the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean continue to have the highest rates of homicides of transsexuals due to motives of prejudice and discrimination, as well as the rationale of machismo and fundamentalist ideas that ignore the diversity, freedom, and autonomy of individuals to identify and define themselves.

Notwithstanding these adverse contexts of violence, we see throughout Latin America experiences of solidarity and leadership that transcend the margins of social exclusion and make known the social demands of transsexuals.  Transsexual leaders are the ones who have been able to impact local public policies, build support networks that have evinced the violence they experience, and above all, generate creative responses for social change from spaces of exclusion.

Race & Equality, within the framework of this commemoration, calls on the States in the region to expand spaces for social dialogue with organizations of transsexuals [and] strengthen the mechanisms for investigating the violence of which this population has been the victim, so as to overcome impunity and jointly define with transsexual leaders social policies of transformation that truly impact their most immediate needs.  We are convinced that transsexuals should continue to be remembered for their transformative acts, rather than for the unpunished violence by which they are eliminated.

#VenezuelaMigrates: Civil Society Organizations launch Plan of Action to protect migrants and refugees from Venezuela

WASHINGTON, DC. November 16, 2018.- Since the beginning of the year, The International Institute of Race, equality and Human Rights, as part of the organizations belonging to the Venezuelan Human Mobility Group, have been following the with great concern  the human rights situation of migrants and refugees forced to leave Venezuela. As a result, we called for a concerted regional response on August 22. This was followed up on September 19 with an initial blueprint that could support this work.

Despite efforts made so far, national and international spaces continue to require greater efficiency and coordination in their regional response to the crisis. To date, there is still little clarity throughout the continent on the best protocols to respond the needs of three million migrants and refugees from Venezuela, in a manner that complies with international standards for the protection of human rights and comprehensive humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, the high-risk situations of violence and discrimination that many migrants and refugees face at all stages of their journey continue to increase. Likewise, the specific needs of those migrants and refugees, particularly the needs of those belonging to groups in situations of vulnerability who are most exposed to violence and discrimination, have become more acute.

In light of this, the Venezuelan Human Mobility Group – of which The International Institute of Human Rights is a part of – developed the Civil Society Action Plan for People from Venezuela that Require National and International Protection, which establishes a road map to improve coordinated responses to this this situation.

The document addresses the specific actions required by all the actors involved, clarifies state obligations, makes recommendations to the States, establishes our commitments as civil society members and organizations, issues recommendations to other members of civil society throughout the region and provides guidelines to international organizations and allies. All of the above with respect to the following central axes:

  1. The correct legal characterization of migrants and refugees, State´s obligations regarding both, the application of the Cartagena Declaration in the Venezuelan context and the mechanisms of regular migration.
  2. Intersectional approaches  to address multiple factors of discrimination faced by different migratory groups based on their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, among others.
  3. The actions required to properly assist each step of a migrant and refugee´s journey, including long-lasting solutions that guarantee access through transit and to their destination countries, as well as guarantees of their rights in their countries of destination.
  4. Regional monitoring and advocacy strategies that brings together all the key actors involved in the development of responses to the situation of Venezuelan people facing a situation of human mobility.

We trust that this document will be useful to all actors tasked with crafting a human rights based approach in the face of this displacement crisis; as well as other current and future migrant and refugee situations that may arise in the region. Likewise, we hope that proposals that involve groups in a high state of vulnerability, such as women, children and adolescents, the LGBTI community and people of African descent, can be implemented with caution.

For more information about the Venezuelan Human Mobility Group visit: www.movhuve.org

Race & Equality Holds a Training Workshop on International Human Rights Mechanisms with the First Organization Comprised of LGBTI Afro-Descendants in Colombia

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality), within the framework of the project on racial justice funded by the Ford Foundation, held the first training workshop on international human rights mechanisms for the team from Fundación Arcoíris de Tumaco [Rainbow Foundation from Tumaco], the only organization working specifically on heightening the visibility and defending the rights of LGBTI Afro-descendants in Colombia.

The objective of the workshop was for Fundación Arcoíris de Tumaco to learn about the mechanisms that exist to protect human rights within the Inter-American System of Human Rights and the United Nations System.  The use of these mechanisms will be greatly relevant, given the context of extreme violence in this region of the country, wherein LGBTI Afro-Colombians experience differentiated impacts on their human rights as a result of aggravated forms of discrimination and violations.  The expected result of the project is a report produced by the organization regarding the state of this population group’s human rights that will be presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The training included a dialogue of knowledge in which the participants described in detail the sociopolitical situation that characterizes the department, as well as the affects of those dynamics on the lives of LGBTI Afro-descendants.  In recent years, Tumaco has been one of the principal municipalities impacted by various types of violence; as such, the impacts on LGBTI persons have particularities, resulting in most cases from stigmas that produce several types of discrimination, in addition to violating their most fundamental rights.

Race & Equality will continue the process of providing technical assistance to the Afro-Colombian Fundación Arcoíris de Tumaco so that it can continue to strengthen its advocacy capacity to defend the rights of members of its community.

Join Our Efforts

Help empower individuals and communities to achieve structural changes in Latin America.

Donate Contact Us