Honduras

Honduras

The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights works to promote racial, ethnic and gender equality for Afro-descendant, indigenous and LGBTI+ communities, a unique approach among international human rights organizations.

We work with Afro-descendant and LGBTI+ organizations in Honduras and with a wide range of organizations working to combat racial discrimination and discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in Latin America.

Our work in Honduras

The Afro-descendant population of Honduras is made up of Afro-descendants and Garifuna. According to historians, the Garifuna population goes back to descendants of the Carib, Arawak and West African peoples, who in 1635 arrived on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent in two shipwrecked vessels carrying African slaves. Upon arrival, they were welcomed by the Carib and Arawak peoples and over the years, created their own culture with language, music, and other traditions.

In the present day, these populations face marginalization and suffer the highest levels of poverty in Honduras. A State abandonment is made evident by the lack of infrastructure and health services, among others, to respond to the needs of their communities, in addition to the increase in violence in their communities. Many of their human rights activists/defenders have been killed or disappeared for defending their lands and, in many cases, their young people are targeted by police or drug traffickers. In September 2020 reports stated that between 2019 and 2020 around 32 Garifuna were killed in Honduras – in some cases, by men dressed in police uniforms.

For this reason, Race and Equality is working with the Central American Black Organization (ONECA) to strengthen the capacity of Afro-descendant and Garifuna organizations to promote racial justice in Honduras, through training, documentation and strengthening the work of advocates in racial litigation.

Our Achievements

Race and Equality provides training, technical assistance and conducts political advocacy on behalf of partners and leaders to strengthen their capacity to actively participate in regional advocacy in:

  • The OAS General Assembly
  • The Summit of the Americas
  • The Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights

As well as the international avenues of the United Nations:

  • The Committee that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CERD).
  • The Committee that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
  • The Expert Mechanism to advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER).
  • The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD).

Finally, at the regional level, we seek to promote the signing, ratification and effective implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance (known as CIRDI). We continue to work so that our partners implement in practical terms the contents of these tools in order to envision and improve the reality of Afro-descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Peru

According to official surveys, 8% of the population in Peru identifies as LGBTI – roughly more than 1,748,357 people. The cisheteronormative system that governs the country causes this sector of the population to be systematically discriminated against, pathologized and stigmatized due to their sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity. Currently, the State does not have a registration system to generate official data or investigation protocols in cases of violence and discrimination against LGBTI+ persons; nor legislation on gender identity, equal marriage, diverse families and public policies with a differential approach.

In this sense, there is no comprehensive regulatory framework that contributes to reducing their level of vulnerability and effectively protects their fundamental rights to life, integrity, identity, health, work and education, among others.

Likewise, indigenous and Afro-Peruvian peoples continue to represent the poorest population in the country. According to the 2017 Population and Housing Census, about 26% of the total population self-identifies as part of an indigenous or native people; and approximately 4% of the population self-identifies as part of the Afro-Peruvian people. Racial discrimination in Peru is a constant and these populations are strongly discriminated against, especially in the fields of employment, justice and education.

Our work in Peru

Race and Equality provides technical assistance and supports Peruvian human rights organizations that work to promote the rights of LGBTI+ and Afro-descendant people, in order to advocate and influence the country’s public policies in favor of protecting these populations, as well as advocating before international human rights organizations.

We promote our partners’ participation in spaces for advocacy and regional debate, such as the OAS General Assembly, the Summit of the Americas and the Inter-American Human Rights System, where we mainly manage thematic hearings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and precautionary measures for victims of human rights violations. Likewise, at the Universal Human Rights System of the United Nations (UN), we urge the participation of allies in spaces such as: the Committee that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CERD) and the Committee that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

We strengthen the capacities of Afro-descendant and LGBTI+ organizations to design and prepare reports and advocacy campaigns at the national level and in international spaces. We seek strategic alliances with organizations with extensive experience in the field of human rights, such as CEDEMUNEP (the Center for the Development of Black Peruvian Women)—an Afro-Peruvian organization that advocates for the rights of Afro-Peruvian women and fights against discrimination, exclusion and marginalization—and involve them in spaces for regional debate, such as the Inter-American Forum against Discrimination, an annual Race and Equality event.

Over the years, we have also supported visits by human rights experts to Peru, including the visit of Victor Madrigal, United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI).

Our Achievements

  • Race and Equality collaborated with the Afro-Peruvian organization CEDEMUNEP and with government entities to promote the development of the census survey that includes a self-recognition question. This process took several years, beginning in 2015 with consultations held with ethnic peoples, radio campaigns and public events to disseminate its importance, and culminated with the implementation of the survey in 2017.
  • Through capacity building, we joined the “Tengo Dos Mamás” campaign to accompany Jenny and Darling, a couple of lesbian wives, who fight for the recognition of their son’s rights and them as mothers and lesbians. In Peru, there are more than 175,000 diverse families who cannot enroll their children in the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec) with the surnames of two moms or two dads, even though the Constitution of Peru obliges the State to recognize marriages contracted abroad.
  • In 2022, through the organization Fraternidad Trans Masculina Perú, Race and Equality supported in processing 16 cases of name change of trans people in a state of vulnerability at no charge. This is because the Reniec does not have administrative processes for changing names and sex categories, so trans people must initiate a judicial process, which results in a costly, bureaucratic and revictimizing process.
  • Race and Equality provided technical assistance in the drafting of the report “Bodies and resistances that TRANSgrenden the Pandemic: transmasculinities and people of non-binary gender AMAN in Peru”, which was carried out by a team of trans researchers from transmasculine and non-binary organizations in the country. The report was fueled by the lack of information and research on transmasculine and non-binary people assigned women at birth in Peru, their problems and the violence that this population goes through. The report seeks to contribute to the beginning of conversations both within the movement and in the State to achieve specific public policies that address the effects presented in the report.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is experiencing a serious socio-political and human rights crisis resulting from the dismantling of democratic institutions and the destruction of civic and democratic space. Since 2018, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has committed systematic and widespread human rights violations that constitute crimes against humanity against a sector of the population considered to be opponents, real or perceived.

Five years after the protests began in April 2018, Human Rights Organizations have documented 355 deaths, more than 2,000 people injured, more than 2,090 people deprived of liberty for political reasons and the exile of more than 250,000 Nicaraguans, including 316 people expulsed for political reasons.

Our work in Nicaragua

Race and Equality strengthens Nicaraguan civil society organizations’ capacity for documentation, litigation and advocacy before the Inter-American System and the Universal Human Rights System, with the aim of guaranteeing justice, comprehensive reparation and non-repetition for victims of state repression. We also train women, indigenous, Afro-descendant and LGBTI+ leaders to actively participate in key events such as the OAS General Assembly and the Summit of the Americas.

At the Inter-American System, we have worked on requesting precautionary and provisional measures in favor of persons deprived of liberty for political reasons and journalists in situations of serious risk to their lives and personal integrity. We have filed petitions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) alleging violations of the American Convention on Human Rights to declare the international responsibility of the State of Nicaragua; as well as complaints to the United Nations Special Procedures, such as those made to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), which resulted in opinions declaring the arbitrariness of the detention of almost 40 Nicaraguans (opinion 10-2022, 58-2022 and 39-2020, among others).

We provide technical assistance to partners in order to make their human rights reports effective tools for advocacy. We have accompanied them to participate in the reviews of the State of Nicaragua before the United Nations Treaty Bodies, such as the Committee against Torture.

Our Achievements

  • We lead the advocacy campaign before the United Nations #MecanismoParaNicaragua. This is an effort by Colectivo 46/2, a coalition of 21 local and international organizations that pushed for the creation and subsequent expansion of the mandate of the
    Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN).
  • We also lead the “Nicas Libres Ya” campaign, in which, together with local organizations, we demand the release of politically motivated prisoners who are being subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and even torture. This campaign contributed to the release of 222 people in February 2023 and continues to demand the release of all those who remain in prison.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has a unique ethnic and racial context, given that it is the only country in the region with a dense Afro-descendant population that is unaware of its Afro-descendant ancestry, and openly discriminates against other Afro-descendant populations, especially the Haitian and Dominican Haitian migrant populations.

Dominican Haitians, in particular, have been victims of stripping of their nationality and immigration raids that expel them from their own country (Dominican Republic) to Haiti. Likewise, both Dominican Haitian and Haitian people in the country face illegal arrests and lack of access to education, employment, decent housing and health, among other violations of their human rights; however, racial discrimination extends to all people who are phenotypically obscure or identified by the Dominican State as black or Afro-descendant. This context of discrimination is further exacerbated when it comes to Afro-LGBTI persons.

These serious human rights violations are largely promoted by national laws and sentences, such as Sentence 168 of 2013, which enabled the Dominican State to deny Dominican citizenship to a large percentage of the population, leaving more than 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent effectively stateless. The Law 169 of 2014 left many without the option of acquiring nationality and others at risk of losing it. Most recently, Law 04 of 2023 has effectively denied these populations the possibility of acquiring Dominican nationality.

The repression against people of Haitian and Dominican Haitian descent has further intensified with the Army, the National Police and the City Councils now involved in deportation processes as of 2022.

Our work in the Dominican Republic

Given the context of exacerbated discrimination in the Dominican Republic, Race and Equality works with local partners, such as the Socio-Cultural Movement of Haitian Workers (MOSCTHA) and the Jacques Viau Meeting Network to strengthen the capacity of Afro-descendant and Dominican-Haitian organizations and promote racial justice through training, documentation and strengthening the racial litigation work of the lawyers.

Additionally, Race and Equality works with the LGBTI organization TRANSSA (Trans Siempre Amigas), providing training on human rights. With our technical support, TRANSSA has prepared reports on the situation of Afro-LGBTI+ people in the Dominican Republic.

Our Achievements

  • Our partners have participated in spaces for regional debate, such as the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Summit of the Americas, and have participated in thematic hearings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
  • Likewise, Race and Equality has supported the documentation process of our partners to raise their voices and effectively advocate before the Universal Human Rights System.
  • We supported our partners in the process of Afro-descendant self-recognition during the 2022 National Population and Housing Census by developing social media materials that sought to break with racial and ethnic stereotypes during the 2022 Census.

Mexico

Mexico processes a social context characterized by high levels of inequality and systemic violence, as evidenced by the existence of gaps and barriers that prevent historically excluded and marginalized communities, such as Afro-descendants, indigenous people, LGBTI+, women and displaced populations, from the full exercise of their human rights.

According to the National Survey on Discrimination (ENADIS), the population groups that face the most acts of discrimination based on certain conditions or characteristics of human diversity are as follows; first, LGBTI+ people with 37.3%, followed by Afro-descendant populations with 35.6%, who experience acts of discrimination based on appearance. Then, in seventh place, indigenous populations face obstacles to access to employment and discrimination related to their way of dressing, ethnic identity, accents and the use of regionalisms of indigenous origin, and in eighth are women over 18 years of age.

Our work in Mexico

Race and Equality’s work is centered on promoting various processes of training and providing capacity-building to civil society organizations, with the aim of strengthening their actions towards the defense and promotion of human rights, as well as their advocacy efforts with State institutions and international human rights organizations to position an anti-racist agenda in public policy, and to raise the voice of LGBTI + people. 

Together with our partners in Mexico, we join forces to contribute to the implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance (CIRDI). to which Mexico is a party. We also support promotional visits by human rights rapporteurs to the country, as well as the presentation of thematic reports to different bodies of the Universal Human Rights System and the Inter-American Human Rights System.

Our Achievements

  • Race and Equality implemented the “Capacity Building Strategy for the 2020 Mexico Census Campaign” through a nationwide media campaign seeking to promote Afro-descendant self-identification with the ethnonyms included in the 2020 Census. The campaign, designed by the Colectivo para Eliminar el Racismo en México (COPERA), resulted in more than 2.5 million people self-recognizing as Afro-descendants in the country.
  • Race and Equality has two unique, quality 2020 Census evaluation materials: “Inclusion of the Afro-descendant Self-Recognition Question in the 2020 Census of Mexico“, prepared by Professor Juan D. Delgado; and “Exploratory survey for the evaluation of the application of the black, Afro-Mexican or Afro-descendant self-recognition question in the 2020 Population and Housing Census“, prepared by Professor Marco Pérez.
  • Race and Equality supports the participation of Afro-Mexican activists before the first and second hearings on Afro-Mexican issues held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and at the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. We have also supported the participation of activists before the General Assemblies of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
  • We have organized promotional visits on behalf of Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay of the IACHR Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination in 2017 and 2018, and Víctor Madrigal, the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in 2023.
  • We continue to join efforts so that more and more actors and institutions join an anti-racist agenda in Mexico, allowing us to generate concrete actions to combat the scourges of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.

Cuba

There is a generalized context of human rights violations in Cuba, which, added to the serious economic crisis currently facing the country, places its population in a situation of constant defenselessness. This reality was made evident after the peaceful protests that occurred in July 2021, where the Cuban authorities arrested about 1500 people for demanding their rights. As a result of these demonstrations, repression has exacerbated and operates differently for Afro-descendants, women and LGBTI+ people, who are also victims of racial discrimination and gender violence.

Although the authorities claim that racial discrimination was eliminated by the Cuban Revolution, the Afro-Cuban population continues to face different expressions of structural racial discrimination and social exclusion, such as high unemployment rates, and lack of access to housing and quality education, among others. The poverty and violence suffered by a large percentage of women is even greater if they are part of the opposition to the government, or are independent activists. Meanwhile, the LGBTI+ population finds itself in a context where freedom of expression is controlled and restricted by the State.

Our work in Cuba

Race and Equality closely monitors the aftermath of the July 2021 protests, which are considered historic due to the large number of people who took to the streets. We also work to strengthen our partners who monitor and document human rights violations committed on the island. At the same time, we increased access to human rights information and provided technical training, representation, and legal assistance to people who have been victims of arbitrary detention, discrimination, repression, and harassment.

We have filed petitions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of activists, and we have also filed letters of allegation and other actions with the United Nations Special Procedures. We support partners in the preparation of reports and encourage them to participate in the reviews of the Treaty Bodies to Cuba, such as the 2022 evaluation of the Committee against Torture (CAT); and the preparation of alternative reports for Cuba’s reviews to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

At Race and Equality, we follow up on the new legal reforms that are promoted on the Island, such as the Penal Code and the Family Code. Likewise, we carry out advocacy work before international human rights organizations, and we participate and manage the intervention of Cuban leaders in key events, such as the Summit of the Americas, the OAS General Assembly, the United Nations General Assembly, thematic hearings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and high-level meetings such as the one held in July 2022 with Michelle Bachelet, then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. We also commemorate important dates, publish reports, denounce to the media the serious human rights situation in this country, and provide psychosocial support to victims of human rights violations in Cuba.

Our Achievements

  • Over the past few years, Race and Equality has produced several reports on the human rights situation in Cuba. One of the most recent reports, “How to Understand 11J and 15N in Light of International Human Rights Standards? An Intersectional Approach”, analyzes the human rights violations that occurred in July and November 2021, and the effects caused on people of African descent, women, LGBTI+ people, independent journalists, artists and young people.
  • We support partners in preparing reports and participating in the reviews of the Treaty Bodies to Cuba, such as the evaluation of the Committee against Torture (CAT) that took place in 2022
  • We provide legal assistance in human rights cases before regional and international bodies. We have presented petitions to the IACHR on the situation of women who are part of the organization Ladies in White and in favor of other activists, such as the coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer, who has been deprived of liberty since the 11J protests.

Colombia

In Colombia, an internal armed conflict that lasted for many decades has given way to systemic patterns of violence, racism and racial discrimination, particularly against Afro-descendant communities who are victims of forced displacement. This context was exacerbated by inadequate government policies toward the treatment of victims and has evolved, in recent years, to exhibit racialized police violence.

Despite the efforts made by both the Government and civil society organizations, alarming levels of violations and violence against human rights defenders and social leaders continue to occur. According to the Indepaz report, 186 social leaders were murdered in Colombia in 2022.

Additionally, internal and external foreign migration into Colombia has greatly influenced the demographic and social configuration of the country. In recent years, Colombia has been an attractive destination for migrants, especially Venezuelans fleeing the political and economic crisis in their country. According to Migración Colombia, as of May 31, 2023, there were a total of 1,815,283 Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. For its part, the Colombian government has implemented policies to regulate migration and guarantee the rights of migrants, but there are still challenges to overcome in terms of integration and protection.

Likewise, violence against LGBTI+ people continues to be a problem that persists in Colombia. Despite advances in rights and recognition, many people continue to face discrimination and violence based on prejudice. According to figures from the Network Without Violence (Red Sin Violencia), around 148 LGBTI+ people were murdered in the country in 2022.

Our work in Colombia

Race and Equality provides technical assistance to our partners in order to improve their strategic litigation, advocacy, research and documentation of human rights violations, and communications capabilities. We promote the strategic use of litigation to overcome human rights violations, from training our partners in the use of legal tools available to generating discourse on strategies for legal advocacy. At the domestic level, we promote our partners’ visibility and presence in the development of local public policies or legal changes that are pertinent to them. At the international level, we promote participation in spheres of human rights debate offered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the various organs of the United Nations System, to submit formal complaints or present reports on the human rights situation in Colombia.

Our focus is developed within the framework of a Regional Articulation Strategy working with civil society organizations as an essential part of our work. We seek to strengthen experiences among human rights organizations in Latin America, join efforts and strengthen individuals so that their collective work can have a greater impact on the region.

Race and Equality’s Racial Justice program in Colombia has been developing national and international research, advocacy and strategic litigation actions aimed at guaranteeing the rights of Afro-descendant human rights defenders, victims of the armed conflict, belonging to ethnic communities and victims of racist police violence. Our counterparts have promoted structural changes seeking to combat systemic and structural racism in the country. Race and Equality is currently part of the Roundtable for Police Reform that seeks to implement a comprehensive police reform that prioritizes human rights, coexistence and peace.

Race and Equality’s human mobility program in Colombia aims to promote access to justice and the protection of human rights for people in situations of human mobility, affected by different forms of violence and discrimination in Colombia, through implementing activities for the defense of human rights, advocacy, international litigation and strengthening the technical capacities of civil society organizations. To meet these objectives, Race and Equality integrates the adoption of intersectional approaches that make visible the differential risks faced by the various population groups that make up the mixed migratory flows coming into Colombia.

Race and Equality has a thematic line focused on lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people, which seeks to influence the generation of structural changes to overcome human rights violations in Colombia from a diverse perspective. Our work recognizes the multiple needs and experiences of people with non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities and those who identify themselves outside the margins of the LGBTI+ definition. In that sense, we consider an analysis taking into account the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, disability, etc., as essential to understanding the complexities of sexuality, gender identities and non-binary gender spectrums.

Our Achievements

  • In 2022, Race and Equality and other civil society organizations presented the report SILENCE AND IMPUNITY: Systemic racism and police violence against people of African descent in Colombia, in order to denounce cases of racist police violence by agents of the Public Force during the social outbreak of 2021 in Colombia.
  • In May 2023, Race and Equality launched the School of Political Advocacy in Motion (EIM), a virtual training space created to strengthen the capacities of social leaders, activists, members of social organizations, public officials, and migrants interested in strengthening their knowledge, skills and competences, and effectively carrying out advocacy processes before national and international institutions to promote the guarantee effective human rights, from an intersectional perspective and with the application of differential approaches.

Brazil

Brazil is a country with enormous territorial dimensions and a vast diversity of populations, environments and cultures. From north to south, indigenous peoples and quilombolas, the black population and other groups in situations of vulnerability – including LGBTI+ people and other intersectionalities – make up different socio-cultural and religious traditions that persist and remain visible, all seeking respect for their differences and deserving of access to justice.

According to the IBGE, 56% of the Brazilian population declares themselves black. This percentage is reflected in the disparities in access to basic rights in the country. The data on violence and exclusion of the black population warns about the impact of racism in the most diverse sectors of the country.

The level of racial violence further increases when these transcend with gender issues and diverse populations. For many years, Brazil has, unfortunately, been at the top of the charts of countries that see the most killings against LGBTI+ people in the world. This intersection of violence is reflected in the precarious conditions in which several indigenous peoples and quilombolas find themselves at the hands of territorial disputes in Brazil, which is a political clash between the State, landowners and illegal mining interests, and results in a scenario full of violations and a lack of consideration for the basic right to live with dignity.

Race and Equality values an intersectional perspective when supporting its partners because it understands that race issues are often intertwined with other issues, such as gender, territory, economic and social vulnerability issues, among others.

Our Work in Brazil

Since 2019, Race and Equality has been working in Brazil strengthening and building alliances between civil society organizations. From listening to these organizations, we seek to identify what are their priorities, strengths and points to be developed, to provide conditions for administrative and legal structuring through cooperation with partner law firms. Our goal is to strengthen grassroots organizations to become autonomous political actors and promote structural change in their countries.

Likewise, we work together with partners to develop and implement national, regional and international strategies for legal action in cases of human rights violations. We act strategically to connect civil society organizations and the groups they defend, observing the highest standards of human rights protection.

At the national level, we act strategically through political advocacy, especially in Brasilia, dialoguing with Congressmen/Parliamentarians who advocate on the Human Rights agenda, together with our national partners. In addition, we carry out actions in conjunction with Embassies and strategic sectors of the Government that deal with the human rights agenda. Our commitment through political advocacy actions is to pressure the Brazilian State to guarantee the anti-discrimination right in the country, and to allow the democratic regime to be effectively an instrument for promoting the human dignity of the LGBTI+ population, the black, indigenous, Roma people, among other ethnicities.

Finally, Race and Equality together with its partners seek to prepare reports and dossiers on the situation of the country with strategic recommendations so that they can guide the construction of national public policies, visibility of human rights violations, democratic strengthening and, in addition, offer an overview of the Brazilian scenario at regional and international level.

Our Successes

  • Race and Equality has supported visits by Rapporteurs and Experts from the international human rights mechanism to hold dialogues with civil society. We have supported the visits of Margarette Macaulay, IACHR Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons of African Descent and Against Racial Discrimination; the visit of Victor Madrigal-Borloz, United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (IESOGI); and Epsy Campbel-Barr, President of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. In addition, we support visits by representatives of the U.S. Department of State and political entities in the region to dialogue with civil society organizations in the country.
  • At the end of 2020, we launched the dossier “What is the color of the invisible? The human rights situation of the Afro-LGBTI population in Brazil”, in which we discuss the lack of visibility of the rights of the Black LGBTI+ population through an intersectional perspective. In October 2021, we published a mapping of the country’s transmasculine population that resulted in the Report “The pain and delight of transmasculinities in Brazil: from invisibility to demands.”
  • Through the project on LBT political participation, we launched the Kátia Tapety Political Training School, which in its first year trained 18 LBTI women in collaboration with the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA), Brazilian Articulation of Lesbians (ABL Network) and the National Network of Black LGBT Men and Women (Afro LGBT Network). In addition, this project enabled the formulation of two research materials: the dossier “Kátia Tapety Political Training School: An Experience of Strengthening Black LBT Women”; and the report “Political Violence in Intersectional Perspective: Dimensions of Exclusion of Cis and Trans Women in the Brazilian Political Scenario”.
  • We promote and strengthen the capacities of civil society organizations in international advocacy strategies and participation in the following spaces for the promotion and defense of human rights:
    • The Committee that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CERD).
    • The Committee that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
    • The Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
    • The Permanent Forum of People of African Descent
    • The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
    • United Nations Expert Mechanism for the Advancement of Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement – EMLER
    • The OAS General Assembly
    • The Summit of the Americas
  • Race and Equality is a co-petitioner in the case of the violation of security and imminent risk to the life of transvestite and black councilwoman Benny Briolly Rosa da Silva Santos, alongside other human rights organizations seeking to grant precautionary measures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
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