![[Argentina] Transgender job quota law will transform lives](http://globalpayrollassociation.com/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-Realistic-National-Flag-Of-Arg-426089543_1200x.jpg?v=1626184547)
On June 24, Argentina's Congress gave final approval for a law reserving 1 per cent of the country's public sector jobs for transgender people. LGBT+ activists say the measure will transform everyday life for the country's trans community, Thomas Reuters Foundation News reports.
Senators in Argentina, which already has some of the world's most progressive trans rights legislation, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the law.
In addition to the state jobs quota, the legislation offers tax incentives and soft loans for private businesses that hire trans people in Latin America's third-biggest economy.
"This law will change our lives. Having a formal job, or a salary receipt and a credit card are natural things for a heterosexual person, but not for us," Claudia Vasquez Haro from the Argentine Federal Transgender Convocation (CFTTA) said.
"For us, having a formal job implies being able to study and to rent a place to live," Ms Vasquez added.
The public sector job allocation for trans people was originally introduced as an emergency decree by the centre-left president last year, it required congressional approval at a later stage to become law.
The quota applies to state-run banks, public companies and hospitals, as well as local and federal government departments, however, the economic incentives included in the new law aim to help trans people find work in all sectors.
Argentina became the first country in the world to let trans people change their legal gender without requiring a judge's permission or medical interventions nearly a decade ago. Yet despite having such rights enshrined in law, trans Argentines often live in poverty and are subject to discrimination.
A 2017 Buenos Aires government study found that life expectancy for trans people in the country was just 32 years.
Neighbouring Uruguay introduced a 1 per cent public sector staff quota for trans people in 2018, and other measures aimed at boosting the employment prospects of trans people have been proposed in Brazil and Bangladesh this year.
There is little global data on the percentage of people who are transgender but according to the Williams Institute - a think-tank at the UCLA School of Law - about 0.6 per cent of Americans identify as trans.
Alba Rueda - Argentina's undersecretary for diversity and the first trans person to be appointed to a senior government post - welcomed the law's approval but said much more needed to be done.
"The state faces a huge challenge to end structural inequality," Ms Rueda told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
According to the 2017 Buenos Aires survey, only 9 per cent of trans people have a formal job while 70 per cent are sex workers. The majority had not finished school but 92 per cent of those surveyed said they would like to complete their education.
The new legislation states that having a minor criminal record or not completing school cannot be obstacles to being hired or to getting a permanent job. Instead, trans candidates will be asked to complete their studies while working.
Source: Thomas Reuters Foundation News
(Links via original reporting)
On June 24, Argentina's Congress gave final approval for a law reserving 1 per cent of the country's public sector jobs for transgender people. LGBT+ activists say the measure will transform everyday life for the country's trans community, Thomas Reuters Foundation News reports.
Senators in Argentina, which already has some of the world's most progressive trans rights legislation, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the law.
In addition to the state jobs quota, the legislation offers tax incentives and soft loans for private businesses that hire trans people in Latin America's third-biggest economy.
"This law will change our lives. Having a formal job, or a salary receipt and a credit card are natural things for a heterosexual person, but not for us," Claudia Vasquez Haro from the Argentine Federal Transgender Convocation (CFTTA) said.
"For us, having a formal job implies being able to study and to rent a place to live," Ms Vasquez added.
The public sector job allocation for trans people was originally introduced as an emergency decree by the centre-left president last year, it required congressional approval at a later stage to become law.
The quota applies to state-run banks, public companies and hospitals, as well as local and federal government departments, however, the economic incentives included in the new law aim to help trans people find work in all sectors.
Argentina became the first country in the world to let trans people change their legal gender without requiring a judge's permission or medical interventions nearly a decade ago. Yet despite having such rights enshrined in law, trans Argentines often live in poverty and are subject to discrimination.
A 2017 Buenos Aires government study found that life expectancy for trans people in the country was just 32 years.
Neighbouring Uruguay introduced a 1 per cent public sector staff quota for trans people in 2018, and other measures aimed at boosting the employment prospects of trans people have been proposed in Brazil and Bangladesh this year.
There is little global data on the percentage of people who are transgender but according to the Williams Institute - a think-tank at the UCLA School of Law - about 0.6 per cent of Americans identify as trans.
Alba Rueda - Argentina's undersecretary for diversity and the first trans person to be appointed to a senior government post - welcomed the law's approval but said much more needed to be done.
"The state faces a huge challenge to end structural inequality," Ms Rueda told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
According to the 2017 Buenos Aires survey, only 9 per cent of trans people have a formal job while 70 per cent are sex workers. The majority had not finished school but 92 per cent of those surveyed said they would like to complete their education.
The new legislation states that having a minor criminal record or not completing school cannot be obstacles to being hired or to getting a permanent job. Instead, trans candidates will be asked to complete their studies while working.
Source: Thomas Reuters Foundation News
(Links via original reporting)