Reports of trans women being descriminated against in Mexico

• Trans women in Mexico face discrimination.
• They lack protection when it comes to health issues.
• Activists demand equal rights.

Trans women in Mexico face discrimination by the government and in the healthcare system, raising concerns, according to an EFE report.

Femicides are the most violent link in a chain of discrimination experienced by transgender women in the country.

Activist Kenya Cuevas denounced discrimination against trans women in an interview with EFE.

She stated that institutions create conditions that leave this group vulnerable to prejudice and discrimination.

Concerns over trans femicides in Mexico

Renowned transgender activist Kenya Cuevas emphasized that trans femicides continue to be a major concern in Mexico.

«Mexico ranks second in trans femicides,» Cuevas said, referring to alarming global figures.

«This is the result of a system that places transgender women in vulnerable spaces.»

«That’s why there’s an intersection with substance abuse, HIV and incarceration,» Cuevas continued.

Demanding better access to the healthcare system for trans women

According to Kenya Cuevas, the roots of trans femicide lie in institutional neglect in Mexican agencies.

The Mexican-born activist stated that these agencies do not allow transgender individuals access to the healthcare system.

She also claimed that the same issue arises with education, housing, employment and, in some cases, the legal system.

«The transgender community needs healthcare, education, housing, employment, identity,» Kenya Cuevas asserted to EFE.

Equal job opportunities

The activist told EFE that trans women do not have equal access to job opportunities in Mexico.

«They won’t hire us because 80% of transgender women don’t even have primary education.»

«Companies require an academic profile, and even if the company is very pro-human rights and very pro-LGBT.»

«They won’t hire someone who doesn’t meet their requirements,» Kenya Cuevas stressed while addressing the challenges faced by transgender women.

Personal experience

Kenya Cuevas went from being a sex worker to a human rights defender and activist for trans women in Mexico.

Cuevas went through the trans femicide of her friend Paola Buenrostro in September 2016.

Her family abandoned her at a young age due to her gender identity, and as a sex worker, she contracted HIV.

The Mexican activist was incarcerated in a Mexican prison, where she was raped and sold by other inmates.