Fighting for inclusion across borders: Latin American Trans women’s health in Canada

Abstract

Background

Worldwide, Trans women from Latin America experience some of the highest rates of violence, which has led many to emigrate. There is limited research exploring the experiences of Trans migrants, and most LGBTQI2S + migrant research focuses on immigrant gay men. This study uses the frameworks of Intersectionality and the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) to examine the impact of migration on the health and wellbeing of Latin American Trans women living in Toronto, Canada.

Methodology

This qualitative arts-based study included nine participants and used hand mapping, a sociodemographic questionnaire, and focus groups to generate data. Data analysis encompassed inductive and deductive approaches and rigor was maintained through reflexivity and several verification strategies.

Results

While migration was used as a safety strategy, participants’ multiple identities as immigrants, Trans women, and Latinas, produced compounded experiences of oppression post-migration. Facing transphobia and xenophobia simultaneously, participants were forced to navigate precarious housing and employment, minimal social capital, and low social position. This limited their ability to exercise power and ultimately caused poor health and wellbeing post-migration; however, participants used sophisticated strategies to resist asymmetrical power relations, actively searching for safety and community participation, and caring for themselves and each other.

Conclusion

The participants fought for inclusion across borders of economic exclusion and gender identity, borders of power and social position, as well as geopolitical borders. Their intersectional experiences across these “borders” should be understood in the context of migration without liberation, consumption without income, compounding oppressions, as well as positive intersectionality. While the women’s resistance and strength are positive by-products of fighting oppression, they cannot be the solution. Access to health and wellbeing should not be a privilege for some; it must be a right for all.

Keywords:

• gender identity
• intersectionality
• Latina
• migration
• social determinants of health
• Trans women

Acknowledgments

We thank the participants for donating precious time and energy to this project. We acknowledge the work of our co-investigators Gerardo Betancourt and Andrea Cortinois and the students who contributed to the project success: Amy Lee, Victory Lall, Simran Dhunna, and Marium Jamil as well as volunteers Auxi Sánchez Ledesma and Evana Ortigoza. We would also like to acknowledge the Center for the Spanish Speaking Peoples and Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Center.

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute for Global Health Equity and Innovation, University of Toronto and by the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples (Toronto).

Notes

1 The capitalization of the letter ‘T’ represents the difference between a noun and an adjective, and the difference between a descriptive name (‘trans’) and an identity (‘Trans’). Trans in its capitalized form reflects a shared sense of identity. Furthermore, the study participants capitalized Trans when they represented themselves, and therefore it was essential that we reflected their preference in this paper.

2 Trinidad and Tobago was included, as the participant self-identified as Latina

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Institute for Global Health Equity and Innovation, University of Toronto and by the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples (Toronto).