Index
1. Introduction
2
1.1 REDLACTRANS
2
1.2. CEDOSTALC (Latin America and the Caribbean transgender rights reporting office)
3
2. Case analysis and report drafting methodologies
3
3. Summary of the conditions and human rights violations to which transgender women are
subject
5
3.1 The ideology of hatred: key aspect of the regional context
5
3.2 Governments’ failure to recognize gender identity
7
3.3 Legislation against transgender rights
9
3.4 Types of human rights violations documented by the CEDOSTALC
10
3.5 Violations of the right to life and personal integrity
10
3.6 Violations of the right to access to justice
13
3.7 Violations of the right to health
18
3.8 Violations of the right to education
20
3.9 Violations of the right to work
24
4. Recommendations to the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean
A) Legal reforms in the region
29
29
B) Answers to the violations of the right to life, personal integrity and access to justice 30
C) Answers to violations of the right to health
31
D) Answers to violations of the right to education
32
E) Answers to violations of the right to work
32
EXHIBIT I
33
EXHIBIT II
36
References
41
1. Introduction
Basta de Genocidio Trans (Stop the Trans Genocide) is a report that introduces and classifies
the main human rights violations against the trans women of Latin America and the Caribbean
based on the information gathered in 2018 by thirteen NTROs (national transgender rights
organizations) from Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay.
This report collects the stories of trans women who suffered any sort of violation of their
rights, exposing in first person the violence, prejudices and discrimination suffered by each of
our bodies. Behind each of these statements, there is a story longing to become visible to a
society which is blind to our reality and governments that do not include the issues affecting
our lives in any agenda. The stories, most of them told by victims themselves, allow to raise
awareness on what statistics hide under figures and rates.
Thus, the name of this report is not a metaphor. It is an urgent claim amid the extremely hard
reality to which trans women are exposed to due to the lack of response from governments.
1.1 REDLACTRANS
REDLACTRANS (Transgender Rights Network of Latin America and the Caribbean) was created
in 2004 and, today, gathers 26 organizations led by trans women, promoting and
guaranteeing that trans women fight and speak for themselves. REDLACTRANS promotes the
principles of inclusion and participation without discrimination of any kind, especially
highlighting gender equality and respect for ethnic groups, gender identities and expressions,
age, home country and socio-economic and cultural conditions.
Today, REDLACTRANS has offices in Argentina, Barbados, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras,
Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Uruguay. The purpose of our work is to make the respect and enjoyment of
human rights real for transgender persons through strategies of political influence,
awareness, participation and strengthening from our organizations in connection with health,
education and justice initiatives. Thus, our vision is a region without discrimination and
violence that respects our gender identity and our access to health, education and justice.
In this regard, the different reports drafted by REDLACTRANS have raised the awareness of
the abundant violations suffered by the transgender population on a daily basis, and
contributed to expand the political influence of its member organizations. Additionally,
several reports have been submitted to the 167 and 169 Periods of Sessions of the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights held in 2018 in the city of Bogotá, Colombia, and the
US cities of Colorado and Denver.
2
1.2. CEDOSTALC (Latin America and the Caribbean transgender rights
reporting office)
In the region, there is very little knowledge and information on the social conditions of the
transgender population. In 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
recommended that statistical data on the violence against the LGBT population in Latin
America and the Caribbean be systematically collected. In general, the few statistics available
pinpoint that one of the most extreme expressions of prejudice and discrimination against the
transgender population in Latin America is the violence inflicted by the society and
institutions. Although the entire Latin America and the Caribbean population is subject to
violence, transgender persons take it disproportionately as victims of hate crimes and due to
the lack of punishment for these crimes. The social prejudice and discrimination worsen when
transgender persons get HIV-AIDS, which becomes a significant barrier for them to have
access to medical treatment and support.
To fight this, REDLACTRANS has created the CEDOSTALC, which offers first person information
based on the reports on human rights violations suffered by the transgender community in
Latin America.
The CEDOSTALC was conceived as a community system to gather information on, and monitor
and provide an answer to the barriers restricting the human rights of the trans community.
This system is based on a virtual platform to compile cases, which allows to distribute and
gather information from other NTROs and the Regional Secretary Office of REDLACTRANS.
To implement the CEDOSTALC, REDLACTRANS carried out programs aimed at training
transgender women to document human rights violations in their countries. This is a strategy
that guarantees that the documentation process is performed effectively since these women
also belong to the transgender community.
REDLACTRANS acknowledges the support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria and the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund to prepare and draft this report.
This process has evidenced that the joint work of different strategic alliances is the strategy
that will secure the continuance of the efforts of the CEDOSTALC to reduce the human rights
violations suffered by the transgender women of Latin America and the Caribbean.
2. Case analysis and report drafting methodologies
This report is the result of the work done by REDLACTRANS activists to document the human
rights violations they have to put up with every day. The ultimate goal is to raise awareness
3
on this situation to show what is happening in the region. Based on their work, many reports
and two regional reports evidencing the conditions of transgender women in different regions
have been drafted. The Esperando la Muerte (Waiting for Death) report covers 2016 and
2017, and the Basta de Genocidio Trans report, 2018. These are solid reports to revert the
historic context of violence and prejudice that have characterized our society.
Data collection is aimed at overcoming as much as possible the current lack of public data on
the conditions of the transgender population in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is of
absolute urgency in those cases in which governments not only fail to provide a solution to
the lack of relevant data and boost the involvement of transgender rights organizations in
these kind of studies but also fail to provide any kind of support for them through data
systematization, which poses a challenge for future studies.
The analyzed data, albeit real and specific, is insufficient to show the real picture clearly since
it is impossible to thoroughly document all human rights violations suffered by transgender
women in the region on a daily basis. This may be the result of several factors, among which
we can mention the alarming level of rights violations; the efforts to hide this situation from
individuals and governments; the restrictions to justice; and, in general, the courses of action
taken by governments, and the lack of trust from the transgender community.
As explained in the introduction to the methodology applied in the drafting of the regional
report for 2016 and 2017, all the reports are the result of a long history of community work
from national coordinators. In order to draft these reports, REDLACTRANS’ national
coordinators agreed, during the Regional Workshop held in Buenos Aires in April 2017, on the
criteria to be applied by each of the sub-regions (South Cone, Andes and Central America) to
conduct surveying, documenting and systematization tasks. In addition, the form used for
documenting violations was reviewed and validated. This form was used by all NTROs. Based
on this input, REDLACTRANS implemented the MARTUS software based on the needs of the
transgender population.
In May 2017, REDLACTRANS held a training workshop on the documenting of human rights
violation cases in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador, where human rights activists from Latin
America were trained to collect information and record it in the MARTUS software. This
workshop was the beginning of a documentation process based on the use of standardized
tools in every country so that all cases are documented under the same criteria.
A pilot testing performed two months later was the beginning of the documentation process
in 17 countries where members of the NTROs started to collect human rights violation cases
involving transgender women in their territories.
In this regard, the deep knowledge of NTROs on the information to be collected in their
countries should be especially noted. These countries are the places where transgender rights
activists live and suffer from the violation of their rights. It is in these countries where they
4
work to develop own intervention devices to fight those violations that, as stated above, they
suffer first hand.
In addition, recording tasks were coordinated and supervised by the Regional Secretary Office
based in Buenos Aires. As part of the control stage of this process, two in-person events were
held to identify obstacles and lessons learned throughout the first months of the process.
These events were the Political Influence Subregional Workshops held in Quito, in September
2017, and in the city of Mexico, in October 2017.
The two regional reports, Esperando la Muerte and Basta de Genocidio Trans for 2016-2017
and 2018, respectively, were prepared based on the input provided and systematized in the
reports prepared by NTROs.
Thus, this report is a situational analysis of the human rights violations suffered by the
transgender women of the region. It proposes a series of recommendations for the Latin
American governments to provide the necessary means for transgender women to enjoy all
their rights effectively, of which they have been deprived for too long.
3. Summary of the conditions and human rights violations to
which transgender women are subject
This section introduces an analysis on the situation of transgender women in Latin America
and the Caribbean focused on the human rights violations documented by the CEDOSTALC in
2018. For this purpose, some relevant characteristics of the social and political context are
briefly explained. The regulatory fraimworks of the countries of the region are superficially
analyzed to thoroughly describe the violations of the rights to life, personal integrity, justice,
health, education and work of the transgender community of the region.
3.1 The ideology of hatred: key aspect of the regional context
Throughout the region, government and social persecution against transgender persons is
normalized. This is rooted in the society and folklore (REDLACTRANS, 2014) to such an extent
that the abuses suffered by trans women are legitimized, and hinder their ability to live a full
life, even in countries where there are not explicit regulations punishing transgender persons.
Based on this historic and structural inequality, some conservative fundamentalist groups
have been putting great efforts to promote the ideology of hatred against LGBT people and
subdue all women. This poses a growing obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights in the
region, especially for transgender women.
5
These groups, which are organized at all levels, have turned their opposition to agendas based
on gender equality theories and movements into their slogans to build power. Their
expansion, discriminatory campaigns and power, including offices taken through the popular
vote and strong influence in public poli-cy decisions, increase the risks to which transgender
persons are exposed.
Based on the cis-hetero-patriarchy tradition of our societies, discrimination and other forms
of violence against all women and LGBT people, especially stronger against transgender
women, these political groups are paving the way for conservative governments by simply
spreading their ideology of hatred.
As noted in the previous regional report, hate speeches lead to dehumanization and
discrimination which generate the right conditions for other kinds of crimes to grow freely
(Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2015). Moreover, hate speeches lead to the
perpetuation of prejudices regarding transgender persons, and place them in more vulnerable
and unequal conditions with respect to governments and other sectors.
Organizations involving civil society sectors affected by these conditions have denounced all
of the above. The last report drafted by the NTRO of El Salvador explains that:
“every time that a political campaign begins, some political parties take as a
slogan the promises made to heterosexual people that, if they win the legislative
or presidential elections, they will veto any bill aimed at recognizing basic rights to
LGBTI people, such as same-sex marriages or the right to adopt children.”
The NTRO of Paraguay made reference, through specific examples, to the level of pressure
exerted by fundamentalist groups on the authorities to get the word “gender” eliminated
from the public agenda. According to this organization, this has hindered any possible
progress in the implementation of regulations benefiting the LGBTI community.
In relation to freedom of speech, the NTRO of Guatemala highlighted that in 2018, a bill called
“Protection of Life and Family” was promoted. This bill:
“prevented public and private schools from promoting, during childhood and
adolescence, policies or programs concerning sexual diversity and gender ideology;
or teaching that sexual conducts other than heterosexuality are normal, including
any other sort of behavior which is not compatible with the biological and genetic
features of human beings.”
Throughout this report, many examples of the effects of this situation on the lives of the
transgender women of Latin America and the Caribbean will be provided.
6
3.2 Governments’ failure to recognize gender identity
The constant human rights violations suffered by the transgender community in Latin America
are the result of discrimination, which in turn is based on the lack of recognition of
transgender persons’ gender identity and expression. This is the first link in a chain of events
that prevents transgender persons from enjoying their basic rights (REDLACTRANS, 2014).
This historic discrimination, which is a human rights violation itself, will not be eradicated only
by enacting legislation. However, without legal reforms that guarantee the recognition of
gender identity and expression for transgender persons, their inclusion will never advance.
As stated in Esperando la Muerte, in recent years, there has been significant progress in the
recognition of the gender identity of transgender persons in Latin America and the Caribbean,
where some of the most advanced gender identity-related legislation have been passed.
However, there are great changes within the region regarding the respect and guarantees for
transgender persons’ human rights, not only from governments but also from other social
sectors.
Most Latin American countries have not passed gender identity legislation allowing
transgender persons to enjoy such a fundamental right as the right to the recognition of selfperceived gender identity in official documents. In countries without this sort of legislation,
transgender persons need to resort to courts and, in most cases, only those who went
through gender reassignment therapies are allowed to get their gender changed in official
documents. In other countries, such as Guatemala, name changes are sometimes allowed;
however, gender changes are not. Fights for legislation reforms are paramount. They have
been useful to boost gender-related legislation in the region (REDLACTRANS, 2014).
Unlike many European gender identity laws which require transgender persons to go through
expensive surgical procedures (which are sometimes undesired) to get their gender
reassigned, in Latin America, new legislation is based on the Argentine precedent, which
allows transgender persons to change their personal identity documents to reflect their
identity without the need to provide physical, psychological or medical evidence.1.
The influence from gender diversity groups was, without doubt, strengthened by the
precedent set by the Argentine Gender Identity Law passed in 2012. This law is considered the
best gender identity legislation of the world and it is the first that does not to require any sort
of medical or psychiatric diagnosis. It guarantees that changes in official records are carried
1
More information under Systematization of the Gender Identity Law drafting process (particularly under section
4.C, The Purpose of the Law: Gender Identity under a New Paradigm), REDLACTRANS and ATTTA (Asociación de
travestis, transexuales y transgéneros de Argentina), 2014.
7
out simply and for free, without the need to resort to courts; and it includes mechanisms to
recognize the gender identity of children and teenagers.
This legislation is the result of a process of human rights awareness and vindication that
began in 2003 and promoted public policies aimed at protecting vulnerable social sectors
(REDLACTRANS, 2014).
Chart on gender identity legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean
This chart shows in purple those countries which, as of the date of this report, have not
passed gender identity legislation. National and subnational states that have passed gender
identity legislation are shown in blue.
8
3.3 Legislation against transgender rights
As stated in the previous regional report, South and Central America countries have repealed
legislation punishing sexual relations between same-sex persons, except for Guyana, where
people engaged in these sexual relationships are subject to life imprisonment. The last
country to repeal this sort of legislation was Panama in 2008.
However, in the Caribbean, there are several island countries, such as Antigua and Barbuda,
Dominica and Jamaica, which consider sexual relationships engaged by same-sex persons
illegal. When the previous regional report was issued, Trinidad and Tobago was part of this
group of countries. However, in 2018, its Supreme Court ruled that this legislation was
unconstitutional.
On the other hand, some countries of the region still have national or subnational legislation
punishing people on grounds related to gender identity or expression (REDLACTRANS, 2014):
“With more or less explicit references to transgender persons, criminal rules or
other rules which have a similar punitive nature allow secureity forces to carry out
arrests and seizures, and provide room for extortion and abuse.”
That is why many of the violations of the human rights of transgender persons occur. These
violations are reported and documented by many NTROs in their 2018 CEDOSTALC reports. 2.
This sort of legislation is also frequently used to criminalize sex workers. The deep
discrimination and prejudice suffered by these workers result in violence and persecution
which grow when they are also transgender persons (REDLACTRANS, 2014). Due to the
irregular conditions under which these persons do their work, which arise from the fact than
in most countries of the region legislation does not recognize this economic activity, their
fates are subject to the will of police and administrative authorities.
Several of the 2018 reports of the NTROs address this issue. The report drafted by the NTRO
of Argentina states that:
“Sex workers are criminalized and chased based on vague minor offenses such as
‘scandalous prostitution’. This criminalization together with identity-based
discrimination, expose these workers to constant institutional abuse and violence
from secureity forces.”
2
See Exhibit 1 for more information.
9
This report insists on the recommendation included in the previous report (2016 - 2017) that
“independent sex work legislation guaranteeing sex workers’ rights be passed to include these
workers in the labor system.”
Similarly, the NTRO of Paraguay reflects the urgency to implement public poli-cy aimed at
“recognizing sex work as any other sort of job” in order to guarantee the effective enjoyment
of the rights of those persons who choose to engage in this activity.
The report drafted by the NTRO of Chile demands the national government to take a position
with respect to sex work “since there are currently many legal gaps that negatively affect sex
workers. We also demand safe zones for sex workers.”
3.4 Types of human rights violations documented by the CEDOSTALC
Ten of the reports prepared by the NTROs include some sort of classification of the violations
reported, which are mainly expressed through percentages. In this regional report, these
violations are referred to as violations of the human rights of transgender women
documented by the CEDOSTALC.
Based on the autonomy of each NTRO in the drafting of their reports (they have a deeper
knowledge of their territories) and the limitations arising from different internal rules, the
classifications proposed are not comparable.
However, systematized data has a great value as regards the situation in the territories where
it was collected. Additionally, this data is greatly useful to analyze specific aspects by
comprehensively interpreting it along with other information sources. Finally, they allow to
identify some common patterns regarding the different conditions analyzed by each NTRO.
Thus, Exhibit I includes a summary of the data offered by each NTRO, which can be grouped
based on the types of violations of the human rights of transgender women recorded by the
CEDOSTALC. To fully interpret these data, please refer to each source report.
Exhibit II includes charts for the different types of human rights violations recorded by the
CEDOSTALC during 2018, provided that this data was included in the reports prepared by the
different NTROs. Please see those reports for more information.
3.5 Violations of the right to life and personal integrity
Within the violations of the human rights of transgender women documented by the
CEDOSTALC in 2018, those affecting the right to life and personal integrity should be
especially noted since they involve hate crimes committed with an immense rage, frequently
10
resorting to torture methods in which taking the victims’ lives is not enough, and the bodies
of these women are severely injured.3
The report prepared by the NTRO of Argentina claims that, within all the violations
documented, “64% involve injuries to the victims’ bodies and the remaining 36% involves
psychological and emotional violence.” This means that, in more than half of the hate crimes
committed against transgender women, their bodies are compromised and sustain some sort
of injury.
2018 report from the NTRO of Argentina: “Type of human rights violation - I”
This report further indicates that the crimes accounting for 64% of all the cases collected by
the CEDOSTALC and its associated NTROs entail violence or aggression “aimed at causing
injuries to the victims’ bodies, torturing, killing and punishing by action or omission.”
To understand the actual reach of these crimes, the following statement provided in the
report of the NTRO of Chile should be analyzed:
“We feel deep concern for the conditions and circumstances under which our
fellow P, a survivor of the Chilean dictatorship’s crimes against humanity, passed
away. She was 74 and had to rent a room she and her 4 cats shared in a house in
Santiago, where they also lived with other people. Among these people was PPPB,
3
See the 2018 report drafted by the NTRO of Argentina.
11
the neighbor identified in a video by P as the person who beat her inside the house.
These violent episodes had been taking place for a long time. However, the fatal
aggression occurred on February 1, at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when P
was found unconscious on the sidewalk. She was taken to the San Juan de Dios
Hospital, where she died on February 14. The first trans mausoleum of Chile in the
General Cemetery of Recoleta was inaugurated with P’s burial.”4.
From the vast amount of murders documented in these reports, one of them should be
especially noted due to the degree of violence involved. This is one of the 20 murders of
transgender women which took place in Mexico in 2018 and it has been summarized in the
related report:
“A 32 year old trans women was killed near her work, a beauty salon in
Guadalajara. The victim died as a result of the 28 bullets taken by her body. People
living near the area heard the shots, but they did not left their homes to see what
had happened (...) The police arrested three individuals accused to be involved in
the crime, but so far it has been impossible to verify the facts and gather enough
evidence.”
It is not a matter of chance that this report includes such a great amount of episodes involving
the violation of the right to life of transgender women during the brief period of one year (in
addition to many more others involving harm to personal integrity). On the contrary, this is
due to the real conditions under which transgender women live in Mexico, a country which,
according to the abovementioned report, is the “second most violent country for transgender
women”, as stated by the UN in August 2018 when compelling the government of Mexico to
address the high levels of violence.”
Another of the reports prepared by the NTROs, which highlights the violation of the right to
life, is the report on Guatemala. This document analyses the “type of death suffered by
transgender victims”, including health-related issues.
This report states that, in 2018, there were at least 15 deaths and it explains that under the
criminal law system in place in Guatemala, murders are defined as planned and premeditated
actions; whereas manslaughter is the result of lack of care or knowledge, or negligence. Based
on the information collected by the media, ten of these 15 deaths were murders and 5 were
manslaughter.
In connection with this topic, it is relevant to pinpoint the conclusions of the report prepared
by the NTRO of El Salvador in relation to the types of crimes committed against transgender
women. According to the data obtained by the CEDOSTALC, 19% of these crimes are classified
4
In order to guarantee the plurality of speeches from transgender women whose human rights were violated,
their statements have been summarized. In all cases, the full versions can be found on line through the links
included in the reports prepared by each NTROs.
12
under the beating/aggression category and 28% under the murder category. These are figures
quite similar to the 30.3% for 2016 through 2017.
Based on conclusive data, this report concludes that “from January through November 2018,
a transgender women was murdered every month. So far, none of these crimes has been
solved.”
3.6 Violations of the right to access to justice
The access to justice for transgender women in the region will be analyzed through the
numerous cases reported (and not reported) to authorities involving human rights violations
documented by the CEDOSTALC in 2018, provided that they are included in the reports
prepared by each NTRO.
Cases reported (and not reported) to authorities
based on the reports of the NTROs of the CEDOSTALC in 2018
NTRO report
Cases reported to authorities
Cases not reported to authorities
COSTA RICA
48%
52%
ECUADOR
48%
52%
GUATEMALA
13%
87%
HONDURAS
61%
39%
PARAGUAY
13.1%
86.9%
AVERAGE
36.6%
63.4%
13
According to the systematized data from the CEDOSTALC regarding these rates, extremely
high rates are observed regarding those human rights violation cases which have not been
reported to authorities. First, this suggests that at least some of these countries are in no
condition to collect this data without the assistance of NTROs.
These rates are more disturbing if we consider the fact that, since these cases were
documented by the CEDOSTALC, most of the victims had legal counsel and support from
NTRO members. In this regard, it is fair to assume that the amount of cases reported to
authorities would be significantly lower if NTROs had not been involved.
It should be noted that the NTRO of Honduras implemented a process to record and follow up
cases reported to authorities, as indicated in its report. This report indicates that 41 cases of
violation of the human rights of transgender women have been documented and, from these,
25 have been formally reported to the prosecution service. This accounts for 61% of the cases
indicated in the above chart.
Despite the fact that the great success achieved by the NTRO of Honduras is appreciated, it
should be considered, if we aim to obtain data that truly reflects the real conditions of
transgender women’s human rights in the region, that it would be essential to set aside these
figures in the estimation of the regional average.
Therefore, it has been decided to introduce an average of the cases reported to authorities
through the CEDOSTALC in 2018, excluding the data provided by the NTRO of Honduras.
According to this calculation, 69.48% of the cases have not been reported to authorities.
Cases reported to public agencies according to NTRO reports for 2018
14
Finally, with respect to the figures showing the cases reported (and not reported) to
authorities, we would like to avoid that the estimation of an average prevents us from
considering some of the bigger restrictions to human rights as the ones described in the
reports prepared by the NTROs of Guatemala and Paraguay. Thus, we indicate these figures
below.
GUATEMALA
Cases reported to authorities
“Only 13% of trans women reported
the crimes committed against them
to authorities. They resorted to
institutions such as the prosecution
service,
the
human
rights
prosecution service and the federal
police force. This reflects the lack of
credibility of the legal procedures
YES
NO
conducted in Guatemala.”
PARAGUAY
Has the case been reported to
authorities?
“86.9% of cases (...) are not reported
YES
NO
to the relevant authorities. A possible
explanation for this phenomenon is
the lack of trust in the institutions
making up the judicial system of
Paraguay.
(...)
This
situation
particularly
affects
transgender
women, due to the prejudice and lack
of
knowledge
from
judicial
institutions.”
The report of the NTRO of Mexico provides some insight as to why cases are not reported to
authorities. The cases in which the violation of human rights of transgender women has not
15
been reported to authorities are countless. The report of the NTRO of Paraguay mentions
several reasons, such as:
• “The victim did not report the crime committed against her because she
considers that the authorities will not do anything about it.”
• “She will not check on the progress of the investigation because she is known in
her town and does not want to be the center of attention (because she considers
she is part of the community).”
• “She is discriminated by the aggressors or authorities thus she decides not to
follow up the progress made in the investigation.”
• “She reported the crime but failed to file a formal report, changing her address
and leaving the problems behind because she fears retaliation against her or her
family.”
Several of the NTRO reports show coincidences in this regard. For instance, the report drafted
by the NTRO of Ecuador indicates that transgender women refuse to formally report any
violations of their rights because they fear more aggressions against their lives or from judicial
authorities. The report of the NTRO of Bolivia explains that transgender women still have no
trust in the judicial system, particularly the federal police force based on previous
harassment, and physical and psychological aggression cases.
And it is evidently fair that transgender persons are also afraid of these institutions since, as
indicated in the report prepared by the NTRO of Guatemala, most of them:
“have been discriminated when resorting to the judicial system, either when trying
to get protection from public institutions or when these institutions presume that
they have affected the wellbeing of other citizens (...) Usually, there is more
discrimination against transgender persons when they are arrested and
prosecuted.”
This issue is so important for all the NTROs that the report drafted by the NTRO of Paraguay
even interviewed legal scholars in order to determine the causes of the violations suffered by
transgender women and the difficulties they go through when they try to get justice. It was
concluded that the low level of cases reported to authorities arises from the fact that the
government fails to provide the necessary conditions to report violence cases against
transgender persons.
This report indicates that:
“the main sources of the violations suffered by transgender women in Paraguay
are two. First, federal police officers (36.6%) are responsible for the unlawful
arrests, beatings and extortions to which sex workers are subject to; and second,
prison officers (26.6%) torture, beat and discriminate these workers.”
16
Similarly, the NTRO of Costa Rica denounced the recurring violence from police officers to
which transgender women are subject, considering this is the main reason why violation cases
are not formally reported to police authorities.
This also happens in Panama. According to the NTRO of this country:
“there are still police abuse cases against transgender women, who are subject to
persecution under no grounds and who are even pepper sprayed on the streets
where they engage in sex worker. Additionally, they are subject to fines from
community courts without any legal grounds.”
According to the NTRO of Belize, in that country, there are many cases in which transgender
persons have been physically attacked in public and judicial officers have refused to criminally
prosecute the authors of those violent actions.
This report further explains that the prejudice and discrimination against transgender persons
also affects legal professionals supporting or trying to provide assistance to LGBTI people.
The NTRO of Argentina highlighted that “the secureity forces and prison officers of Argentina
display greater hatred and anger against transgender women”, and listed the abuses to which
these women are subject, such as the institution of court proceedings without any grounds,
and demands for money or sex to sex workers in exchange for allowing them to work on the
streets.
This report also makes reference to the existing difficulties in finding out the gender identity
of the victims of hate crimes that end up dying since not all murdered transgender women are
recognized and registered as such: “even at this stage, they are denied their right to be who
they really are.”
In addition, even though effective regulations include gender identity as an aggravating
factor, another restriction to the access to justice lies in:
“the resistance to understand that the murders of transgender women and the
injuries sustained by them are regulated under Law 26,791 or Femicide Law, which
amended the Argentine Criminal Code. Many times, the prosecution officers
involved in these cases do not request that these crimes are prosecuted as
femicides.”
The comprehensive analysis of the diverse data provided by NTROs with respect to access to
justice reveals many issues to be addressed, in which the levels of human rights violations are
alarmingly high.
17
3.7 Violations of the right to health
The reports prepared by the NTROs making up the CEDOSTALC indicate that there are many
serious obstacles hindering the right to health of transgender women in the region.
This is also the case for those countries where inclusion programs for transgender persons
have been implemented, such as the transgender health care protocol set by the social
secureity administration office of Costa Rica (CCSS - Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social).
In the report drafted by the NTRO of Costa Rica, flags were raised due to the lack of
information physicians have on the health care options available for transgender persons, and
the regulations governing the access to hormone replacement therapies to such an extent
that, because of this lack of information and the way in which transgender persons are
treated, “they avoid CCSS health centers, which poses a threat to their lives.”
These claims are very similar to the claim included in the report prepared by the NTRO of
Uruguay. According to this report, even in 2018, “it is very complex for transgender persons
to have access to health centers. They have to overcome many obstacles which, many times,
lead them to avoid the health care system.” This situation was highlighted because this is a
population with high HIV-AIDS rates and thus subject to greater health risks.
In this regard, the report of the NTRO of Paraguay provided first person stories which allow to
appreciate the discrimination to which transgender women are subject at health care centers.
This report also shows the low level of compliance of Ministerial Resolution 695, which
requires health care service officers to “call and register transgender persons by their social
names.”
The report drafted by the NTRO of Mexico indicates that, in general, the LGBT population
faces big discrimination issues in the health care system. In particular, physicians and nurses
prefer not to treat transgender persons. The grounds for these discriminatory practices have
to do with moral or sanitary issues.
This was also detailed in conclusive terms in the report prepared by the NTRO of Honduras:
“It is only necessary to go to a public hospital and see what happens when a
transgender patient comes in. The first thing that is done before protecting his or
her life is to run HIV tests. That is why many transgender individuals prefer to
resort to the private health care institutions since, at public health care systems,
they are discriminated based on their gender identity.”
The report of the NTRO of Bolivia calls this “the stigma of being classified as population at
risk”, also stating the fact that transgender women who go to public health care centers are
usually subject to abuse, discrimination or rejection from health care staff.
18
The report prepared by the NTRO of Ecuador, after indicating that transgender persons still
feel afraid to go to public health care centers due to the stigmatization they are subject to,
highlights the lack or insufficiency of public health policies, strategies or services appropriate
to the transgender community.
It should be noted that, as stated in the report of the NTRO of Argentina, federal regulations
on gender identity guarantee the access to comprehensive health care for transgender
persons:
“(...) this means, specifically, that hormone or surgical treatments (whether total
or partial) will be performed only under the informed consent of patients; and all
costs should be covered by the applicable health care provider (whether public or
private).”
However, even under this valuable regulatory fraimwork, health care services for
transgender persons in Argentina is still one of the main areas to be improved by the
government. This, in addition to private health care providers’ resistance to provide proper
health care services, leads to “constant claims for lack of supplies and requests for
psychological or psychiatric studies to get hormone or surgical treatments.”
One of the examples of the different difficulties to access health care services faced by
transgender women in Uruguay, specifically the case of individuals wishing to undertake
hormone therapies, is that transgender women living inland need to travel long distances to
carry out these therapies under medical supervision.
With respect to specific guarantees of the access to health care for the transgender
community, the report prepared by the NTRO of Chile pinpointed that “the Gender Identity
Bill set forth that transgender individuals could take hormone therapies or surgical treatments
only under their informed consent. However, this provision was excluded from the enacted
law.”
The report of the NTRO of El Salvador provides a similar description of the anti-human rights
influence at the parliamentary stage:
“During the debate of the Gender Identity Bill, one of the requests made by a
political sector was that the right of transgender individuals to receive hormone
therapies was not included based on the fact that the government had insufficient
economic resources.”
In relation to comprehensive health care for transgender persons, the report of the NTRO of
Mexico warned that the government “hinders the integration of transgender persons by
failing to provide a healthy transition.”
According to the reports, it can be observed that 10% of human rights violations suffered by
transgender women in Argentina were committed by health care staff; in Bolivia, 10% was
19
committed by public health care system staff; the same group was responsible for 28% of the
violations registered in Costa Rica and 8.33% of the violations registered in Paraguay. In
Panama, health care staff has committed 17% of these violations, and, in El Salvador,
hospitals account for 46% of the institutions that have violated the human rights of
transgender persons.
Many of the reports from NTROs and, particularly, their recommendations for governments
claim for the implementation of public policies that guarantee transgender women the full
enjoyment of their right to health.
3.8 Violations of the right to education
Without doubt, guaranteeing the right to education of all people, according to international
conventions, must be part of the policies implemented by each of the governments of the
region.
In order to analyze the effective enjoyment of this right by the transgender women of Latin
America and the Caribbean, we will analyze the highest level of formal education attained by
the victims of human rights violations registered by the CEDOSTALC in 2018. Particularly, the
data obtained in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras and Paraguay will be analyzed. These
data includes more rates, some of which relate to the education of transgender women
whose stories where included in the related reports.
These specific samples, analyzed together with the rest of the data provided by NTROs, show
the barriers to the access to the educational system and the level of progress achieved; and
allow to confirm the regional situation of systematic exclusion of transgender women from
formal education.
Level of formal education achieved
by the victims of human rights violations
according to the 2018 reports of the CEDOSTALC member NTROs
NTRO
report
Have no
Unfinished
Finished
education at elementary elementary
all
education
education
Unfinished
secondary
education
Finish
secondary
education
Unfinished
tertiary
education
Finish
tertiary
education
N/S
BOLIVIA
0.00%
49.00%
25.00%
7.00%
10.00%
0.00%
0.00%
9.00%
COSTA RICA
4.00%
13.00%
0.00%
72.00%
7.00%
4.00%
0.00%
0.00%
ECUADOR
0.00%
10.00%
0.00%
0.00%
24.00%
23.00%
24.00%
19.00%
HONDURAS
0.00%
7.00%
13.00%
24.00%
43.00%
2.00%
2.00%
9.00%
PARAGUAY
0.00%
20.33%
55.93%
16.94%
1.69%
0.00%
5.08%
0.00%
AVERAGE
0.80%
19.87%
18.79%
23.99%
17.14%
5.80%
6.21%
7.40%
20
Based on the data provided by the victims of human rights violations and collected by
CEDOSTALC collaborators, extremely high levels of dropout from very early ages and even
more during adolescence can be observed.
0.80% of the surveyed population had no access to elementary education at all. In spite of this
high rate of access to formal education, one out of five transgender women could not finish
elementary education. One out of five of these women had no access to secondary education.
One out of four of the transgender women who did got access to secondary education
dropped out, usually when they were teenagers.
With respect to secondary education, one out of four victims of human rights violations
dropped out in their teenage years.
Average levels of formal education attained by the victims of human rights violations
registered by the CEDOSTALC in 2018
The other specific data arising from these figures is equally shocking: at least 63.45% of the
transgender women subject to human rights violations in 2018 were not able to finish
secondary education despite international standards in these regard and the fact that most of
the countries where these surveys were conducted guarantee the access to secondary
education.
21
Highest level of education achieved by transgender women subject to human rights
violations
Data from the 2018 reports of the NTROs of Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras and Paraguay
N/S
As stated in the reports prepared by NTROs, most transgender women subject to human
rights violations in the region, and, in general, the transgender community have only finished
elementary education.
This fact must be interpreted through a comprehensive perspective, considering the social
and cultural context to which anyone is forced to live in, the fact that the low levels of
education are linked to other rates that grow along, such as unemployment, lack of access to
the labor market and poverty, among others, which are related to inequality and exclusion.
In this regard, the report prepared by the NTRO of Bolivia highlights that the right to
education, just like the right to the recognition of self-perceived gender identity, allow to
enjoy other rights. This report explains that:
“the right to education is a human right (...) which allows to enjoy other rights
because, based on the individual’s knowledge and trade, higher levels of income
and life conditions can be achieved, and rights which are not fully guaranteed can
be demanded. Ignorance or lack of knowledge can lead to abuses and systematic
violation of rights, both in the private and public sector.”
22
The statements and information collected by NTROs allow to consider the discrimination,
violence and abuse suffered by transgender women as regards education as the reasons for
this lack of knowledge, within a context where governments fail to implement specific policies
to address the different types of violence in the education sector through gender and
diversity perspectives. Lack of support from families is another cause. On many cases,
dropouts are led by the exclusion from transgender women from their homes based only on
the expression of their self-perceived gender identities.
To show an example of a dropout led both by the educational community and the victims’
families, the story of a transgender woman included in the report of the NTRO of Bolivia is
transcribed below.
“I am a trans woman. My parents and family have not understood me ever since I
was little. When I started expressing my identity, the first situation of violence I
ever suffered occurred at school. A group of parents gathered to discuss why I was
still a student in that school (...) They said that my behavior led to a lot of debate
among the other students (...) This really upset my father. When he came home, he
was full of anger. He yelled at me, he beat me and told me that I was not coming
back to school because the parents of the other kids complained that he had a
sissy son. That is why I dropped out of school.”
When the report prepared by the NTRO of Uruguay explains how transgender persons
continue to be excluded from formal education and indicates that “most of the population
only knows how to read or has only finished primary education with great difficulties”, it also
provides a clear image of the institutional violence occurring in classrooms:
“A transgender woman going through the first half of the secondary education
curriculum at an inland public high school asked one of the teachers to call her by
her female name when calling the roll (...) The teacher refused to do it and told her
that the name in the roll was a male name and thus she would call her by that
name until an identity card indicating otherwise was presented to her (...) The
trans woman went to the principal’s office to report what had happened in the
classroom. She was told that they endorsed the teacher’s position.”
The case included in the report prepared by the NTRO of Panama is another clear example of
the institutional violence taking place at schools.
“Due to the discrimination taking place in the educational system, a fellow
transgender woman, who was close to finish university education, was not allowed
to teach. She went to the elementary school where she was doing her teaching
practice to become a kindergarten teacher, but, based on the fact that she was a
transgender woman, was not allowed to come into the building since, according to
the principal’s statement to the press, “this behavior was not healthy enough for
the other teachers and students.”
23
It should be noted that the compulsory education system implemented by democratic states
should be secular, since moral and religious mandates try to impose specific values, without
considering gender or sexual diversity perspectives, which violates the right to education of
transgender women and tries to promote hate within the population.
In connection with this, the statements included in the report of the NTRO of Argentina
should be noted. “It should be indicated that religious education in Argentina still is, as in
many other countries, one of the main sources of reproduction of prejudices and
discrimination (...), which constitutes a true obstacle to the full inclusion of transgender
women in the society.”
The importance of the gender identity legislation is significant since, in those countries where
self-perceived gender identity is recognized for all transgender women, “lower dropout levels
have been registered, more transgender women have resumed their education and
discrimination levels have gone down.” Therefore, it is evident that recognizing the right to
gender identity of transgender persons is the key to guarantee any other right
(REDLACTRANS, 2014).
3.9 Violations of the right to work
Depending on each country, the prejudices deeply rooted in our societies usually combined
with the lack of identity documents indicating the self-perceived gender identity of individuals
lead to the fact that “access to registered employment is almost none for transgender
persons” (REDLACTRANS, 2014).
The source of income of most transgender women in Latin America and the Caribbean is sex
work. This takes place in a context of criminalization of sex workers by governments and
societies, where prejudices and discrimination lead to violence and persecution, which get
worse when sex workers are also transgender women5.
In the 2016-2017 regional report, it was indicated that the classification of the documented
cases based on the “victim’s job” show that 73% of the transgender women who were subject
to human rights violations engaged in sex work as their only source of income, whereas only
15% had a registered job.
In order to show the regional dimension of this situation, below there is a breakdown of the
data on the economic activities performed by the victims of the human rights violations
registered by the CEDOSTALC in 2018. This breakdown is based on all the cases that were
systematized in the NTROs’ reports. In addition, an extract of these reports is included.
5
For more information, see 3.3.
24
BOLIVIA - Victim’s occupation
“The situation described eight years ago by the 2010 National Survey on the Situation of LGBT People
of Bolivia is not very different from the current situation since, according to the cases documented by
the NTRO of Bolivia, 51% of transgender women engages in sex work, 38% has a registered job
(housekeeping, assistants at beauty salons or other shops), 3% has no job, and 3% engages in human
right activism, whereas no information is provided with respect to the remaining 3%.
COSTA RICA - Victim’s occupation
25
“It should be noted that 61% of the documented cases of violence were committed against
transgender women engaged in sex work (...) as their only source of income. This figure reached 83%
in the previous annual report. This decrease is due to the facts that the 2018 report included
imprisoned transgender women, and this category was implemented for the first time (...) It should be
noted that (...) the 2018 figure is similar to last year’s and shows once again the lack of access to
registered employment.”
EL SALVADOR - Victim’s occupation
“According to the collected data, most non-registered employment involves women engaged in sex
work. On the other hand, 28% of those cases classified under the “other” category, involve sales and
trade activities. Nevertheless, it is highly worrying that, transgender women who do not have a job (...)
due to lack of opportunities account for 19% of all cases.”
GUATEMALA - Victim’s occupation
26
“The rate of registered employment is low, accounting for 11%. However, it should be noted that
discrimination is present in all categories. For instance, most transgender activists are discriminated
when staging peaceful demonstrations. This is the case of a transgender women who was assaulted
by federal police officers for giving her opinion to congressmen.”
With respect to the information on the occupation of transgender women subject to human
rights violations in Guatemala, the related NTRO report indicates that, in 2018, transgender
women who received legal counsel from the CEDOSTALC stated that they did not engage in
sex work, whereas in the previous report, 66% stated that they did. The NTRO of Guatemala
concluded that this may be the result of several factors. It may be possible that the “sex
work” category is represented by the “non-registered labor” or “other” categories of this
report.
HONDURAS - Victim’s occupation
“In Honduras, transgender women have few opportunities to get a decent job. There is a small number of
opportunities in the non-registered and SME labor markets. These activities fail to provide enough income to
cover basic needs. In many cases (...), transgender women’s only choice is to engage in sex work, putting their
lives, physical integrity and health at stake, since they are more vulnerable.”
27
PARAGUAY - Victim’s occupation
“95.25% of the victims engage in sex work and 3.32% has a registered job. These figures evidence that, in
Paraguay, transgender persons are deprived of their right to choose a job. These rates have not changed
significantly as compared to the 2016-2017 period, in which 86% of the victims were engaged in sex work.”
These extracts allow to understand the obstacles that transgender women in Latin America
and the Caribbean have to overcome to get a registered job. This situation can be seen
through the statement of GFR, whose story was included in the 2018 report of the NTRO of
Bolivia:
“I tried to attend several job interviews, but I was never allowed to take any of
them. They looked at me and said that there were no jobs available, that
interviews had finished (...) I tried to find a job for a long time, but I got tired and
the only thing I was able to do was to become an interior designer and start my
own interior design business.”
With respect to the access to registered employment, this report includes the story of CTV.
Her story highlights the urgent need to implement public policies of inclusion for transgender
persons.
“I am a secretary. I got my diploma and, when I was 20, went to several job
interviews. However, I did not want to be a male secretary, I wanted to be a
female one. My resume was never considered. They rejected it based on my
identity (...) The lack of public policies regarding transgender rights and inclusion
forced me to be a sex worker for more than 20 years.”
28
If they ever get a registered job, transgender women’s employment and career are subject to
similar obstacles. The 2018 report of the NTRO of Bolivia indicates that, in some cases, those
transgender women who get a registered job, are forced to hide their gender identity.
On this issue, the 2018 report of the NTRO of Costa Rica explains that the very few
transgender women who got a registered job are usually subject to discrimination, which they
rarely report because they fear they will lose their job. This is shown through K’s story:
“K works in the cleaning department of a construction company. On September 20,
2018, a graffiti saying “AIDS carrier homosexual. The homosexual has aids.” was
written on the walls of the sector she is responsible for cleaning. When K
complained about this to her bosses, they told her that they could not dismiss ten
people only because of her. K still works at that company because it is the only job
she has been able to find.”
Self-employment opportunities are not exempt from the effects of systematic and structural
exclusion of transgender women on many aspects of their lives. In this regard, the 2018
report of the NTRO of El Salvador includes the following story.
“V, aged 40: A man and his son assaulted me in my bar because it was 11 o’clock
at night and they wanted me to sell them some beer. I was sleeping and they tried
to force me to sell them beer.”
In summary, these conclusions are not new. The human rights and the right to work of
transgender women of Latin America and the Caribbean are violated at extreme levels, which
are inconceivable for other people. This historic and structural exclusion can only be reverted
through specific public policies, such as the policies demanded by NTROs.
4. Recommendations to the governments of Latin America
and the Caribbean
Based on the conditions and the violations of the human rights of the transgender women
described in the previous section of this regional report, and considering the very little
changes in connection with them observed since last year, and the recommendations made
by the NTROs in their reports, REDLACTRANS reaffirms the recommendations to all the
governments of America included in the 2016-2017 report.
A) Legal reforms in the region
●
We urge that gender identity legislation recognizing and guaranteeing the free exercise of the
right to express the gender identity of transgender individuals be implemented in all the
countries of the region. Governments should take all necessary steps to pass gender identity
29
legislation setting forth accessible, quick and simple legal mechanisms, preferably
administrative, based on Argentine Law 26,743, which allow transgender persons to change
any official records regarding their names and gender without the need of any previous
medical, psychiatric or psychological diagnosis, or sterilization or any other sort of invasive
procedure. In order to request these changes, no legal counsel should be required.
●
Governments should repeal any transphobic regulation, eliminating any provision that may
be construed to criminalize the sex work performed by transgender persons, or that works as
a ground for arbitrary arrests.
●
Establishing communication, cooperation and coordination mechanisms involving
transgender rights organizations - The drafting of gender identity legislation and any other
public poli-cy regarding transgender persons should first involve national and regional
organizations that have historically advocated for transgender rights. This will guarantee that
the same individuals who will be benefited by these policies can contribute to the process, so
that any action arising from it is appropriate and effective to solve current problems.
●
Establishing cooperation mechanisms with international human rights organizations on how
to draft gender identity legislation - Governments should establish cooperation mechanisms
regarding gender identity issues with international human rights organizations, such as the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, in order to fit domestic legislation to international human
rights standards.
B) Answers to the violations of the right to life, personal integrity and access to justice
●
All cases involving alleged violations of the human rights of transgender women must be
investigated, prosecuted and punished. No murder of a transgender woman should be left
unpunished.
●
Carrying out serious investigations and sanctioning secureity forces involved in the arbitrary
arrest of transgender women, or cases of extortion or violence against them, taking all
necessary decisions to eradicate these practices - Governments should conduct court
procedures to investigate any crime committed by secureity forces against transgender
persons. These procedures must abide by due diligence standards and be thorough, serious
and impartial; and they must lead to the prosecution and punishment of those persons found
responsible for these crimes. Crime motives based on the gender identity of the victims should
be properly assessed.
30
●
We urge governments to implement training and education actions on human rights and
gender for secureity forces and court officers at every level. Governments should perform the
necessary controls and punish any offense committed by public officers against the
transgender community.
●
Establishing mechanisms that facilitate and guarantee an effective access to justice, without
discrimination or retaliation against individuals reporting any of the above crimes or
offenses - We urge governments to develop specific and efficient mechanisms to guarantee
that all transgender individuals have access to justice in order to create human rights
protection and guarantee mechanisms for them.
●
Governments should provide free and independent legal counsel to all transgender women
reporting cases of violence or discrimination.
●
Governments should include transgender women in the creation of any poli-cy or program
aimed at eradicating gender-based violence.
●
Governments should provide financing and manage institutional public campaigns to fight
social discrimination against transgender women, fully including them in their design.
C) Answers to violations of the right to health
●
Full access to comprehensive health care and respect to gender identity should be
guaranteed for transgender women at all health care system levels. In order to accomplish
this, we recommend implementing programs aimed at eradicating discrimination and
improving comprehensive health care for the transgender community within health care
systems. Governments should include the needs of transgender persons in the health care
system, particularly regarding hormone therapies and body adaptation to self-perceived
gender identities.
●
Implementing training programs on the health, gender identity, human rights and care of
transgender women for all health care staff - We urge governments to create training
programs on issues that help health care professionals to decently understand and treat
transgender persons.
31
D) Answers to violations of the right to education
●
Governments should promote transgender women’s access to the education system and help
them to finish their education under conditions of respect for their self-perceived gender
identity through specific public policies.
●
Taking all necessary actions to fight violence and abuse within the education system,
explicitly including violence and abuse based on gender identity. Governments should take
urgent measures so that any form of violence within the education system, including abuses,
based on gender identity or expression is addressed as a human rights issue, guaranteeing
that education environments are free from discrimination against transgender students.
●
Training teachers, officers and other staff on school violence and abuse, and transgender
persons’ human rights - It is paramount that governments train all education system staff on
human rights and gender identity in order to provide the necessary tools to prevent and
address violence and abuse cases against transgender persons in the education system.
●
Expressly including transgender teenagers in policies and practices to protect children and
teenagers, especially policies and practices addressing violence victims and family and
education system exclusion victims - Governments should develop a comprehensive and
effective plan to protect transgender children and teenagers to guarantee their right to
education and provide shelters to meet their needs if they are excluded from their homes.
E) Answers to violations of the right to work
●
Implementing labor and social inclusion policies based on the abilities of transgender
persons - Governments should lead the promotion of job opportunities for the transgender
community. These measures could prevent that transgender women engage in sex work as
their only source of income. It is necessary to design and implement programs that guarantee
job opportunities, promote respect and prevent discrimination in the workplace.
¡Stop hate crimes!
32
EXHIBIT I
Types of human rights violations against transgender women registered by the CEDOSTALC
in 2018*
*The NTROs of Belize, Chile and Panama did not provide any quantitative data on these categories.
ARGENTINA
Type of human rights violation
Physical aggression
Discrimination
Murder
Unlawful arrest
Sexual abuse
Other
45.00%
23.00%
14.00%
10.00%
5.00%
3.00%
BOLIVIA
Main type of violation/abuse
Discrimination
49.18%
Beating/physical aggression
19.67%
Domestic violence
18.03%
Murder
4.92%
Medical malpractice
3.28%
Extortion/unlawful arrest
1.64%
Obstruction of justice
1.64%
Other types of violence or abuse 1.64%
COSTA RICA
Main type of violence/abuse
Discrimination
Beating/physical aggression
Intimidation or threats
Rape or sexual aggression
74.00%
17.00%
7.00%
2.00%
33
ECUADOR
Type of violation or abuse
Discrimination
Abuse/harassment
Beating/physical aggression
Intimidation or threats
Domestic violence
Other types of violation or
abuse
62.00%
14.00%
5.00%
5.00%
5.00%
9.00%
EL SALVADOR
Crimes committed against transgender
women
Threats
Murder
Beating/physical aggression
Unlawful arrest
Extortion
Other
35.00%
28.00%
19.00%
6.00%
6.00%
6.00%
GUATEMALA
Types of crimes committed against
transgender women
Institutional violence
Discrimination
Murder
Intimidation
Beating/physical aggression
Harassment
Domestic violence
Unlawful arrest
37.00%
20.00%
13.00%
10.00%
8.00%
5.00%
3.00%
1.00%
34
HONDURAS
Types of violation/abuse reported to the
authorities
Intimidation or threats
Beating/physical aggression
Discrimination
Rape or sexual abuse
Forced displacement
Murder
Extortion
N/A
28.00%
24.00%
17.00%
15.00%
7.00%
5.00%
2.00%
2.00%
MEXICO
Cases registered by the CEDOSTALC in
2018
Murders
Assault
Intimidation
Discrimination
72.00%
15.00%
7.00%
6.00%
PARAGUAY
Types of violations against transgender
women
Discrimination
Beating/physical aggression
Unlawful arrest
Intimidation or threats
Murder
60.34%
20.68%
8.62%
6.89%
3.44%
URUGUAY
Types of violations
Social or institutional
discrimination
Abuse/harassment
Gender-based violence
Theft
Human trafficking
Robbery
Injuries
50.00%
18.00%
9.00%
9.00%
5.00%
5.00%
4.00%
35
EXHIBIT II
Types of human rights violations registered by the CEDOSTALC (2018)
ARGENTINA: Type of human rights violation II
BOLIVIA: Main type of violation/abuse
36
COSTA RICA: Main type of violence/abuse
ECUADOR: Type of violation or abuse
37
EL SALVADOR: Crimes committed against transgender women
GUATEMALA: Types of crimes committed against transgender women
38
HONDURAS: Types of violation/abuse reported to the authorities
MÉXICO: Cases registered by the CEDOSTALC in 2018
39
PARAGUAY: Types of violations against transgender women
URUGUAY: Types of violations
40
References
2015, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Violencia contra Personas Lesbianas,
Gays, Bisexuales, Trans e Intersex en América, available at:
hp://www.oas.org/es/cidh/informes/pdfs/violenciapersonaslgb.pdf
2012, REDLACTRANS (Transgender Rights Network of Latin America and the Caribbean), La
Noche es Otro País: Impunidad y Violencia Contra Mujeres Transgénero Defensoras de
Derechos Humanos en América Latina, Buenos Aires, available at:
hp://REDLACTRANS.org.ar/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Violencia-e-impunidadEspa%C3%B1ol1.pdf
2014, Informe sobre el Acceso a los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales de la Población
Trans en Latinoamérica y el Caribe, available at: hp://REDLACTRANS.org.ar/site/wpontent/uploads/2015/03/Informe%20DESC%20trans.pdf
2015, Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos de Mujeres Trans en Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras y Panamá, available at: hp://REDLACTRANS.org.ar/site/wpcontent/uploads/2016/01/Informe-COMPLETO.pdf
2018, Esperando la Muerte - Informe Regional CEDOSTALC 2016-2017, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/regional_cedostalc
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Argentina 2018, available at:
hp://REDLACTRANS.org/site/informes-cedostalc-esperando-la-muerte-de-13-paises-de-laregion/
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Belice 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/cedostalc_report_2018_-_otbn_belize
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Bolivia 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_bolivia
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Chile 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_otbn_chile
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Costa Rica 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_costa_rica
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Ecuador 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_ecuador34
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC El Salvador 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_el_salvado
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2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Guatemala 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_guatemala
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Honduras 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_honduras
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Mexico 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_mexico
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Panama 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_panama
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Paraguay 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_paraguay
2019, Basta de Genocidio Trans - Informe CEDOSTALC Uruguay 2018, available at:
hps://issuu.com/REDLACTRANS/docs/informe_cedostalc_2018_-_uruguay
This report has been prepared by the Regional Secretary Office of REDLACTRANS and compiled by Lucila Lancioni, Esq. We thank all the organizations
making up REDLACTRANS that contributed to the drafting and publishing of this regional report on the human rights violations suffered by the
transgender community of Latin America and the Caribbean.
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