As part of the technical assistance to the Ministry for Women, Gender and Diversity of Argentina, EUROsociAL+ is developing specialised consultancy for the design of a Plan for Accessing Formal Employment on the part of the LGBTI+ Population in Argentina within the framework of the action called “Support for gender equality in the labour market and support for the plan for access to formal employment for sexual diversities: a certification and inclusion plan for the LGBTI+ population”.
Programa Nacional IGUALAR
Argentina is in a very varied process of designing and implementing public policy to promote gender equality in the world of work. In this framework, it has created the IGUALAR National Programme, under the authority of the Under-secretariat for Equality Policies at the Ministry for Women, Gender and Diversity. The Argentine State recognises the need to move urgently to reduce gender inequalities in the world of work, employment and production to build a more egalitarian society for all people from an intersectional and human rights perspective.
Its specific objectives include increasing the participation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, intersex and other people belonging to sex-gender dissidences (LGBTI+) in the world of work, employment and production: under conditions of equality; reducing horizontal segmentation and the “sticky floor” phenomenon; decreasing vertical segmentation within union and business organisations; promoting the reduction of violence and workplace harassment experienced by LGBTI+ people and the mainstreaming, together with the bodies competent in the matter, of the approach to gender equality and diversity included in current labour regulations.
The Ministry has a Secretariat for Equality and Diversity Policies and a Secretariat for Diversity Policies that promotes policies which contribute to the inclusion and integration of LGBTI+ people, guaranteeing their human rights and equal treatment. In this process, in December 2020, Argentina approved a job quota of not less than one percent in the National Public Sector for transvestites, transsexuals and transgender people who meet the suitability conditions for positions (Decree 721/2020). On 24 June, the Parliament approved the “Diana Sacayán-Lohana Berkins” Law for the Promotion of Access to Formal Employment for Transvestites, Transsexuals and Transgender Persons (Law 27636) in which, in addition to establishing this quota, economic incentives are defined depending on contracting for private companies, and access to credit is guaranteed for productive, commercial and/or service undertakings, individual or in association, specifically aimed at transvestite, transsexual and transgender applicants.
In this context, within the framework of the EUROsociAL+ Programme and as part of the technical assistance to the Ministry for Women, Gender and Diversity of Argentina, specialised consultancy for the design of a Plan for Accessing Formal Employment on the part of the LGBTI+ Population is being developed in Argentina as part of the action entitled “Support for gender equality in the labour market and support for the plan for access to formal employment for sexual diversities: a certification and inclusion plan for the LGBTI+ population”. The expected overarching goal of the action is to “(e)stablish tools that enable the creation of labour equality certification between genders in Argentina”.
Within this framework, different proposals to promote access to formal employment and labour inclusion of LGBTI+ people have been reviewed, exploring inclusion actions promoted in Europe and Latin America from public policy, from civil society groups and from the business world.
The document Systematisation of the European and Latin American experience in labour inclusion policies for the LGBTI+ population is part of said advice and it was proposed to bring together the comparative experience of Europe and Latin America on public policies for access to formal employment and labour inclusion of the LGBTI+ population, as well as making some recommendations to consider this group in the preparation of a Seal/Certification of gender equality in companies and institutions. The contribution of the EUROsociAL+ team involved an active exchange with the MMGyD teams in order to better adapt this input to their needs and expectations.
The support also included the implementation of an internal Workshop on Certifications concerning gender equality and access to formal employment of the LGBTI+ population, carried out in May, which contributed by deepening the theoretical framework and conceptualisation on LGBTI+ diversity, and which presented the current context of LGBTI+ diversity in the workplace in Latin America and Europe, and the best practices identified in the area of LGBTI+ diversity in the labour market. This support will continue with a series of exchanges between the actors and experts who led these good practices in Latin America and Europe and the MMGyD teams, as well as an international seminar on equality in the world of work to be held on 8 March 2021.
Challenges for labour inclusion policies regarding the LGBTI+ population in Latin America and Europe
At the European level, despite advances in the legal and social recognition of LGBTI+ people, data shows that there are still significant challenges for this group in accessing employment, as well as in the face of situations of concealment or discrimination (harassment, dismissal, not being hired, insults, among others) that these people have to face. According to extensive research by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, in the workplace only 21% of LGBTI people are very open about their sexual orientation, gender identity or sexual characteristics and 34% avoid expressing themselves freely at work because of fear of being attacked, threatened or harassed by others. In Spain and Portugal, the ADIM Project identifies that LGBTI+ people do not make themselves visible in their work environment to avoid rumours and stereotypes (43%), so as not to lose job opportunities (21%) or, directly, their job (7%).
In the Latin American region, where normative and institutional instruments have also been developed, LGBTI+ people continue to be subjected to discrimination, violence, persecution and other abuses and violations of their rights. Although information gaps persist, according to UNAIDS research, 74% of LGBTIQ+ people in Latin America suffered at least one situation of harassment, violence or discrimination in the workplace over the last year.
In both Latin America and Europe, trans people are exposed to higher levels of vulnerability and tend to suffer from higher levels of exclusion, stigma and social prejudice. Their insertion is predominantly in informal employment (without access to social security), mainly in sex work, which is more frequent in trans women (90% take up sex work in Latin America according to the recent publication by the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons of the OAS) and in self-employment, entrepreneurship or cooperatives in very limited sectors (beauty, makeup or hairdressing).
Faced with this reality, the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals and other United Nations resolutions encourage governments and companies to have inclusion programmes available in their workplaces for LGBTI+ people. In 2017, the United Nations, through its Free and Equal Programme, proposed five Standards of Conduct for Companies in order to address workplace discrimination against LGBTI+ people.
Other supranational organisations are taking actions to improve the situation of LGBTI+ people in employment: the OECD, the ILO, or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). On the part of the European Union, a firm commitment is made to the signing by companies and employing institutions of so-called Diversity Charters, by which they undertake to specifically include sex-gender diversity (among others) in actions of awareness, recruitment, inclusion, management and communication.
Both in Europe and in Latin America, it is essential that there are general policies towards the LGBTI community that enable their effective inclusion in the workplace with equal opportunities: recognition of the right to gender identity and sex-gender diversity; promulgation of anti-discrimination norms; generation of knowledge in an official and systematic way about the living conditions of this part of the general public; institutionalisation of sexual diversity within the State and approval of comprehensive plans for the LGBTI+ population developed jointly with civil society.
Some practices have been compiled at national, regional or local levels that can illuminate the design and implementation of public policies aimed at the labour inclusion of LGBTI+ people:
Generation of knowledge about the labour reality of LGBTI+ people through research and conducting censuses, studies and diagnoses in order to guide training and/or employment plans aimed at the LGBTI+ community.
Publication of specific guides, protocols and materials on the inclusion of trans people in the workplace.
Job placement plans, which include specific programmes for lesbian and bisexual women, as well as for the trans population. These are complemented by orientation, counselling and job support programmes for trans people.
Positive action measures, such as employment quotas, hiring incentives, tax credits, equality clauses in subsidies or public contracts, among others.
Support for employment equality and non-discrimination programmes in companies and employing institutions through seals, certifications, public recognition and rankings of workplace LGBTI+ equality, which can be granted and monitored by public institutions or associations.
Comprehensive and periodic evaluation of the legal implementation of anti-discrimination regulations and public policies, as well as of legal provisions that establish the presentation of impact reports disaggregated by sexual orientation and gender identity.
Promotion of networks of companies and employer institutions that actively work for LGBTI+ diversity.
Involvement of unions to incorporate LGBTI+ rights as labour and union rights.
It is necessary to work jointly between the State and civil society (unions, LGBTI+ associations, the business community), paying special attention to the training of social agents and, especially, the civil service. For these objectives, debate, argumentation and the mobilisation of political ideas appear as fundamental as elements of influence. In any case, the State can have a dynamic and leading role, mobilising monetary and personal resources, which enable, in the first place, the diagnosis to be carried out, and then promote specific policies based on human rights and, finally, institutionalise all the advances.
Article by J. Ignacio Pichardo and Valentina Perrotta, experts from the EUROsociAL+ Programme, area of Gender Equality Policies.
