Medellín, a territory for everyone, inclusive and friendly territory for the LGBTI population

Being part of the Rainbow Cities Latin American Network is a sign of the Antioquian capital’s interest and commitment to the elimination of discrimination and to achieving an inclusive and friendly territory for the LGBTI population, and safety for women and girls.

If there is something that Jhon Jairo Gómez feels for the Medellín Mayor’s office, it is gratitude. He, who his friends know as Jota, has been a beneficiary, for more than five years, of different programs that gave him psychological support and attention. This support has helped him to accept himself as he is and to rebuild his life, as he was the victim of intra-urban displacement and other scourges, such as abuse and sexual violence.

The Centro para la Diversidad Sexual e Identidades de Género – Center for Sexual Diversity and Gender Identities is like home for him, where he feels happy, welcomed and respected. “Here, they helped me find meaning in my life. I began to paint. I exhibited my works and I have grown a lot as a human being,” he says.

Medellín is the 22nd city in the world to enter the UN Women “Safe Cities” program. It is the third in Latin America and the first in Colombia..

Like him, other gay men, lesbians and transsexuals have received differential and integral attention in the Center. This space, open to all types of public, was created based on the LGBTI public policy that protects their rights and demonstrates Medellín’s commitment to combat discrimination, homophobia and psychological and physical violence.

To move forward in that sense, through the Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellín and the Metropolitan Area, the opportunity to build strategies with other cities around sexual diversity and gender identity was identified. It was then when, in 2016, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Rosario, Montevideo, São Paulo, Bogotá and Medellín created the Rainbow Cities Latin American Network.

“Being in the Network means being a city that is friendly with diversity and exchanging knowledge and experiences to enrich the programs and actions we have for this population,” explains Paulina Suárez, Secretary for Social Inclusion.

ACI Medellín has accompanied and managed the visits of UN Women to learn how the city advances in providing security for women and girls.

Achievements of an Inclusive Territory

Today, Medellín has a strategic plan for its LGTBI public policy, with a 10-year projection, which seeks to improve the living conditions of these populations with services such as psychosocial support, legal advice and labor intermediation, as well as promoting actions that transform the social imaginaries about them:

• The city works with an intersectional approach, that is, recognizing differences to provide each person attention that fits their situation.
• Sensitization actions in private companies to put aside prejudices and provide job opportunities to these people; health days, and academic and cultural agendas on topics of interest, both for them and for the rest of the population.
• Coordinated initiatives with the Secretariats of Health, Culture, Women, Private Sector, Economic Development, Communications and other institutions such as Fauds (Family and Friends United for Sexual and Gender Diversity) and Egocity to achieve actions that guarantee inclusion and protection of rights for LGBTI people.

Safe Spaces for Women and Girls

The compliments, lascivious glances, whistles and other sounds that women often receive in public spaces in Medellín generate  feelings in them, such as insecurity, fear, anger or displeasure, which makes them become more prepared and distrustful when they go on public transport, they walk down the street or when they visit spaces such as parks or outdoor gyms.

Aware of this situation, the Women’s Secretariat, with the accompaniment and management of ACI Medellín, managed to get the city into the Global Program of Safe Cities for Women and Girls of UN Women in 2015, an initiative to make visible and act in the face of harassment and sexual and gender violence in public spaces.

“Everything we did in Manrique was with the participation of women and girls. It was they who built the messages,” says Valeria Molina, Secretary for Women, who explains that they chose this Comuna to begin the program with, because it is the second with the largest number of men compared to the rest of the city. Also, of the 15 neighborhoods that make it up, 58% are considered vulnerables.

The implementation of the project has had these stages

“Everything we did in Manrique was with the participation of women and girls. It was they who built the messages,” says Valeria Molina, Secretary for Women, who explains that they chose this Comuna to begin the program with, because it is the second with the largest number of men compared to the rest of the city. Also, of the 15 neighborhoods that make it up, 58% are considered vulnerables.

After this experience, the Secretariat is working on the construction of a second baseline for three other comunas in the city, where it will identify aspects such as forms of sexual harassment, generated feelings and effects, frequency with which women suffer some form of harassment, places where there is more incidents and the general perception regarding violence and sexual harassment.

Medellín has been part of the UN’s Global Program of Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces for Women and Girls since 2015.

Medellín, with the guidelines of UN Women, has gone further. It has innovated and has become a benchmark in other parts of the world for its commitment and for being able to reach places such as public transport to build a safe territory for women and girls.