Solidarity with the trans community in Brazil
Donation protected
The trans community is heavily relying on civil society for their survival during the current COVID-19 crisis. Organizations such as FONATRANS are at the forefront of providing emergency relief and food security, doing their best in helping those in need to survive. However, their resources are very limited. They entirely rely on volunteers and donations from private partners in order to continue their work. Despite their amazing initiatives, they are running out of money and too many people still have to go without food, not having their basic needs met, on a daily basis. This is why, with our fundraiser, we are hoping to collect money to support the courageous and inspiring work of the Brazilian civil society in their life-saving activities - Doing a job that should be done by the government that fails to protect its most vulnerable citizens.
Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for the trans community. While a homophobic murder takes place every 16 hours in Brazil, every 48 hours the victim is a trans woman. Shockingly, the estimated lifespan of a trans person is as low as 30 years. The trans community finds itself completely marginalized by society, in schools, and even within their families. Being denied access to their most basic human rights, 99.9% of transvestite and transsexual women are forced to work in exploitative structures such as prostitution to sustain their livelihoods.
Check out their social media channels: Website , Instagram , Facebook
ABOUT FONATRANS AND ANTRA
Jovanna Baby is one of the founders of two of Brazil’s leading and most influential organizations ANTRA and FONATRANS, who tirelessly fight for the rights of the trans community:
ANTRA was founded in 1994 to tackle the ongoing atrocities and violence against the trans population which frequently results in transfeminicides. ANTRA annually publishes a map of murders of transgender people in Brazil and continues to increase pressure on the Brazilian government to change its current policies of discrimination and transphobia.
The organization FONATRANS (short for National Forum of Black and Black Transvestites and Transsexuals) on the other hand was born out of the need to address the systemic racism prevalent in Brazil, a country where 78% of the trans population is black. FONATRANS is a pioneer in the fight for black trans women and men. Their inspiring work includes advocating for the implementation of public policies, holding seminars, conducting awareness-raising workshops and trainings. FONATRANS’ role in the region is indispensable, not least as they are the only network exclusively fighting for trans-black people in Latin America whose oppression is exacerbated due to their intersecting identities.
While systematic atrocities against the trans community and the denial of their most basic human rights belong to the status quo of any trans person in Brazil, the government does nothing to alleviate their suffering.
On the contrary, with the election of the right-wing Bolsonaro government in 2018, the minimal public policies that used to be in place for the LGBTQI+ community were entirely dismantled, leaving the trans community without any governmental support, i.e. without any projects, financial or institutional support that would help them sustain their livelihoods. Jovanna told us how the Brazilian government completely disregards their struggles by not even recognizing transvestite and transsexual women as citizens of law.
This is also reflected in the way the current pandemic has been handled by the government: While there have been some governmental efforts to provide emergency relief, the trans community has been excluded and was not able to access any government aid at all due to ongoing discriminations against their identities.
Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for the trans community. While a homophobic murder takes place every 16 hours in Brazil, every 48 hours the victim is a trans woman. Shockingly, the estimated lifespan of a trans person is as low as 30 years. The trans community finds itself completely marginalized by society, in schools, and even within their families. Being denied access to their most basic human rights, 99.9% of transvestite and transsexual women are forced to work in exploitative structures such as prostitution to sustain their livelihoods.
Check out their social media channels: Website , Instagram , Facebook
ABOUT FONATRANS AND ANTRA
Jovanna Baby is one of the founders of two of Brazil’s leading and most influential organizations ANTRA and FONATRANS, who tirelessly fight for the rights of the trans community:
ANTRA was founded in 1994 to tackle the ongoing atrocities and violence against the trans population which frequently results in transfeminicides. ANTRA annually publishes a map of murders of transgender people in Brazil and continues to increase pressure on the Brazilian government to change its current policies of discrimination and transphobia.
The organization FONATRANS (short for National Forum of Black and Black Transvestites and Transsexuals) on the other hand was born out of the need to address the systemic racism prevalent in Brazil, a country where 78% of the trans population is black. FONATRANS is a pioneer in the fight for black trans women and men. Their inspiring work includes advocating for the implementation of public policies, holding seminars, conducting awareness-raising workshops and trainings. FONATRANS’ role in the region is indispensable, not least as they are the only network exclusively fighting for trans-black people in Latin America whose oppression is exacerbated due to their intersecting identities.
While systematic atrocities against the trans community and the denial of their most basic human rights belong to the status quo of any trans person in Brazil, the government does nothing to alleviate their suffering.
On the contrary, with the election of the right-wing Bolsonaro government in 2018, the minimal public policies that used to be in place for the LGBTQI+ community were entirely dismantled, leaving the trans community without any governmental support, i.e. without any projects, financial or institutional support that would help them sustain their livelihoods. Jovanna told us how the Brazilian government completely disregards their struggles by not even recognizing transvestite and transsexual women as citizens of law.
This is also reflected in the way the current pandemic has been handled by the government: While there have been some governmental efforts to provide emergency relief, the trans community has been excluded and was not able to access any government aid at all due to ongoing discriminations against their identities.
Fundraising team (3)
Renee Alissa Mustre Del Rio
Organizer
Paris
Alice Chempf
Team member
Janna Fuhrig-Keval
Team member
