Learning not to judge - in Mexico
In Mexico, transgender people frequently become involved in sex work as a means of survival. Their work often leaves them vulnerable to violence, extortion and human rights violations. Stigma and discrimination by public service providers, such as health service staff and police, often lead to the denial of services, as well as harassment, violence and unjustified imprisonment. Transgender sex workers also experience violence and discrimination from their families, neighbours, partners, work colleagues and clients.
Fortaleciendo Identidades y Diversidades, a community group supported by the Alliance’s Vida Digna (Life with Dignity) project, is aiming to reduce the aggression and human rights violations experienced by transgender sex workers in San Luis Potosí. A key strategy is facilitating awareness-raising workshops for both transgender sex workers and the local police. As a result, there has been a significant change in the police attitudes towards the transgenders, as shown by these comments from workshop participants:
“These workshops are very beneficial as we learn the reasons why they have the job they have and we learn to respect them.”
“We learn not to judge them based on what they are wearing.”
“Some of our colleagues bother them just because they think that’s the way it has to be and that they like being teased, but we don’t know what they’ve had to go through for them to be able to work on the streets and that they need the job to be able to pay the rent and their food.”
“It would be very beneficial for the senior management to participate in these workshops as it is they who give the orders to arrest the transgenders and we have to comply with them.”
Following positive feedback from the police force, training for a further 1,200 police officers has been planned.
