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URUGUAY: Job Training Moves “Trans” Off Streets to Better Future

Marta Moss

MONTEVIDEO, May 22 2010 (IPS) - Ruler in hand, Fabiana draws lines with a pencil on orange cardboard, occasionally pushing her curly hair away from her eyes. Next to her, Fernanda fashions a colourful cardboard box, a prototype for what their cooperative will ultimately produce in large quantities.

The tables are covered with pencils, scissors, drafting squares and colourful cardboard. This is not just any workshop. It’s a “design, production and marketing of artisanal packaging” workshop, of a cooperative created especially to promote employment for the transgender community in Uruguay.

It is the second initiative of its kind in Latin America, following in the footsteps of the first, in neighbouring Argentina.

The workshop emerged from organisations that promote worker training and fight discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity: the “Mujer Ahora” (Woman Now) cooperative and the non-governmental “Colectivo Ovejas Negras” (Black Sheep Collective).

Supporting the effort are the National Institute for Employment and Professional Training (INEFOP), the “Promujer” (Pro-Woman) programme of the Labour Ministry, and the Dutch foundation Mama Cash.

There have been no detailed studies in this small South American country of the “trans” population, or people with “gender incongruence” as defined by the American Psychiatric Association. But experts estimate there are around 5,000 people who identify as trans in this country, and their life expectancy is just 35 years.

Trans individuals — male or female — live and feel different from the sex they were assigned at birth. They are considered the most vulnerable among lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) when it comes to recognition of their rights to health and work.

They have been burdened with stereotypes — that they are neither male nor female, that they are all sex workers and uneducated — and targeted by the most conservative sectors of the Catholic Church and other religious organisations that oppose sex reassignment surgery.

All of this creates obstacles for members of the transgender community in their efforts to find decent work, and has left many confined to the more dangerous neighbourhoods of the city, or on the streets to work in prostitution.

According to sociologist Tania Aguerrebere of Mujer Ahora, “the job training provides a real alternative so that participants can work independently, for an employer, or in a collective or cooperative.”

However, the expert acknowledged that a job “is not assured, because it will depend on how the issue is worked out with society.” She told IPS that some lobbying needs to be done in the business sector.

Overcoming fear and distrust

Members of the Ovejas Negras collective visited the sites in Montevideo known for prostitution activity to seek out trans individuals and provide information about the job-training course.

“Even though many did not sign up, it will become part of their thinking that there are real alternatives to the sex trade,” Diego Sempol, of Ovejas Negras, told IPS.

“There is still a lot of distrust, fear and difficulty in believing in something. When the first 20 brave ones see that the project works, they will be able to nudge others to take the chance,” he added.

Mujer Ahora, meanwhile, has taken the lead in analysing the different possibilities, conducting market research, and choosing a product.

The choice of a course in packaging design came about because in a world where image is increasingly important, the outside of the product is the first thing consumers see, social educator Giselle Rodríguez told IPS. “Also, we determined that there is a high demand for these items,” she said.

The training entails 430 hours of classes in design, planning, occupational health, computer technology, labour rights, and diversity and gender issues. The students receive a stipend of 4,800 Uruguayan pesos (250 dollars) a month if they keep up regular attendance.

Also among the objectives are group reflection on society’s models of femininity and masculinity. Their experiences and conflicts are shared with psychologists in a group setting, and at the end of the technical training, there are classes in personal aesthetics in which they consider ways to improve their image, based on their individual styles.

“It’s not just about making little boxes,” Fabiana told IPS. “They also teach us how to treat customers, and how to present ourselves when applying for a job in order to enter the labour market,” she said.

“Manteca,” as one of the students calls herself, says the experience has been like “going back to school… It’s good to have another point of view on life and that people can see us in a different way, all of which motivates us to get ahead,” she told IPS.

Meanwhile, Florencia, 21, told IPS that she works as a prostitute and started the training because she was looking for a new way to earn a living. “The simple fact of studying changes your attitude as a person, you start to become a completely different woman,” she said. If all goes well, she wants to leave her work on the street behind.

“It’s historic, the first time there has been a public policy aimed at this vulnerable population, and that is very encouraging. We are building democracy in a real sense,” said Sempol, in reference to the plan that has sustained INEFOP and the Promujer programme since the previous administration of leftist President Tabaré Vázquez (2005-2010).

Mujer Ahora’s Rodríguez pointed out that the programme has helped move civil rights beyond mere words to real action. “This wouldn’t have been possible if the Uruguayan government had not recognised that targeted policies were needed for social inclusion through employment,” she said.

Uruguay took an important step in 2009 with a law that enabled people to legally change their name and gender, but there are many steps yet needed.

“People are beginning to understand that they have to give a boost to this part of the population,” trans activist and course coordinator María Paz Gorostizaga commented to IPS.