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We had an exclusive interview for “Corresponsables Clave” with Elena Reynaga, Executive Secretary of RedTraSex, to learn about the position of her collective on the High Level Meeting and the Political Declaration.
By: Adolfo Ruiz Ferreira Tags: #HLM2016AIDS, Argentina, Redtrasex, Trabajadoras Sexuales, Trabajo Sexual
The RedTraSex issued a release rejecting the language of the Political Declaration that will be adopted this week by the United Nations Assembly, as they state that “the only mention made about us, women sexual workers is on paragraph 42, as people who have ten times more chances to get HIV. A similar formula is used in the same text for all other key populations.”
The document supports the demand of all communities in the world that claim that “they are not vulnerable people but citizens with rights and subjects with an identity that goes far beyond a disease.”
In a very complex global context, with conservative people who strive to make key populations invisible for the response to AIDS, Elena Reynaga said to Corresponsales Clave that “One of the main achievements and learning from my years of activism to eradicate HIV-AIDS, was to make us protagonists, with a voice in the debates and interference in the measures, to make it clear that we are subjects with rights and not objects to study or analyze. In this sense, the omissions in the political declaration prepared for the HLM are very serious, it is a huge step backwards that tries to break and separate civil society, and it has vital consequences in the sustainment of current programs. We have to face this, denounce it and work jointly.”
Elaborating on the joint negotiation process from civil society, Reynaga mentioned “the need of an integrated militancy, strengthening the networks with dialogue and agreement, but also working jointly. If something is crystal clear to me is that together and organized we can achieve better results. Hence, the Network educates its members politically to become a working group that can make clear claims, that can demand autonomously, but that also understands the power of alliances. It is evident that there may be differences, as in any other group: there are needs and urgencies; we have to learn how to negotiate and agree. I understand that the Network agenda is not the same as that of other organizations, but we need to find the contact points, the common battles, to become stronger. And when you work with alliances you get more visibility. I think it is also about an exercise of solidarity and respect, of loyalties, a word that seems to have lost validity. It is about knowing how to support our fellow men and women, about understanding that one step backwards in human rights is a setback to all mankind, beyond who is being made invisible specifically.
Corresponsales Clave: Could you comment on the importance of vindications about key populations and human rights in the political declaration, within the 2020 and 2030 context?
Elena Reynaga: It is evident that there is a change in the work perspective which is only the beginning of a movement towards the exclusion and omission of key actors. Silence is not healthy, silence kills, and that is why we have to break it. This is true in many aspects. And this is what is happening: they are silencing us, they are eliminating us, they want us to turn down the volume, leaving us out. How are we going to work if funding has been cut, if they take the light away from us, if we are deliberately omitted? What guarantees can we have if we are not present in the Political Declaration? What they are doing totally contradicts the objectives of 90/90/90 UNAIDS.
CC: Worldwide, environmental sustainability is considered a priority, should the HIV agenda be neglected necessarily?
ER: Of course not. This is not like fashion, when there is a new collection and we throw away the previous one (which by itself goes against any idea of sustainability, but I will not elaborate on this). In order to have a sustainable transformation there has to be commitment, in terms of time, investment, care. Obviously there are many issues of concern that need to be dealt with (…) but there are different specialists, actors and measures for each issue. It is not us, sexual workers who pollute fresh and potable water with industrial waste, or cut the Amazon trees. This has to be dealt with somehow and with major responsible people. But in the jungle itself there are indigenous communities that do not have access to antiretroviral medication. Currently, Venezuela is undergoing a crisis because there are no medications…starting this month they will run out of inputs and this has consequences on the whole population. We join this claim which is urgent; the lives of more than sixty one thousand people are at risk. Does this mean that the environment is not important? No, of course not, but it is not our priority.
CC: ¿What do you think about the global fundamentalist agenda, in particular the regional one as the cause of these setbacks?
ER: We cannot be naive. We know we are the most affected with these setbacks. We should not stop our fight and should be alert, because every time we move forward there will always be people who feel attacked. The access to rights for one side should not imply a reduction in rights for the other, but privileges. And that is the key. There will be a reaction against every little progress and we have to remain strong and united to take care of each of our achievements. For instance, yesterday in Argentina, which is seen as an “advanced country” in terms of equality for the LGBTTI collective, thanks to the laws of equal marriage and gender identity, “#NoALaAdopcionGay” was trending topic. That is, there is a constant threat next to each achievement. And we have to protect our work, what we build jointly. We cannot rest on our laurels; we have to always add organization and struggle to each achievement. The right wing never sleeps.
CC: ¿What is the RedTraSex doing and what will it do in response to this threat?
ER: Our key is education, working horizontally, educating our fellow women to gain space and preserve every centimeter conquered. We cannot expect it will sustain by itself, we need to have women who are aware of their rights, whom can take their voice to several political spaces. We do not want representatives coming from other places to speak on our behalf. We want to speak ourselves about our experience, making visible our way of thinking and living, speaking about the consequences of secrecy, precariousness, violence and stigma. We, sexual workers are organized; we recognize ourselves and demand our rights. Our fellow women are going to UNGASS, ECLAC and the OAS. That is, to set out a network of containment, but also a platform of organized work that achieves progress to improve our life quality in the access to our human rights.
CC: What would be the position of the RedTraSex in an emergency situation on HIV and human rights?
ER: Organization and education are key aspects. Working jointly, in alliance with actors with whom we share the struggle. We are thousands of women in the world asking for our right to work to be recognized, to a life free of violence. We are not alone, we are organized and we know that gives us more strength and reach than anything else.
The RedTraSex consists of organizations of women sexual workers and/or former sexual workers in 15 countries (Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Dominican Republic). It was created in 1997. Its members define themselves as struggling women searching to expand their freedoms; they vindicate a more just and equal society, free of violence, without stigma and discrimination. The RedTraSex aims to defend, promote, recognize and respect the human rights of women sexual workers, in particular their labor rights.
Visit their website and learn more: redtrasex.org/
Read about its institutional position on the Meeting and the Declaration: http://redtrasex.org/spip.php?article2331
We thank Elena Reynaga’s time and availability for this interview.