Panama: New Trans Discrimination Cases Under Covid-19 Measures
Government Needs to Clarify Gender-Based Quarantine System
Six transgender people have been stopped by security officials in Panama in recent weeks for allegedly violating Covid-19 curfew rules based on gender, even though the government had promised to resolve the problem, Human Rights Watch said today. The government needs to take more decisive steps to prevent the continuing discriminatory impacts of its gender-based quarantine or scrap the measure altogether.
The quarantine schedule, implemented by the Health Ministry on April 1, 2020, requires women and men to remain at home on alternate days. From the first day of these measures, trans people – who have a gender identity or expression that may not match the «female» or «male» sex marker on their identification document – faced discrimination.
«The Ministry of Public Security took an important step when it acknowledged discrimination against transgender people, but transgender people are still experiencing discrimination», said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. «To effectively address this problem, Panama needs to either explicitly authorise transgender people to comply with the quarantine in accordance with their gender identity or expression or scrap gender as a basis for quarantine measures».
On May 11, the Public Security Ministry issued a statement announcing that it had «spoken with the security sector to prevent any type of discrimination against the LGBTI population» in carrying out the Covid-19-related restrictions. The announcement followed reporting, including by Human Rights Watch, that police and private security guards had been singling out transgender people for profiling, arresting them or preventing them from buying essential items.
But the ministry has yet to issue any guidance as to how trans people are expected to comply with the gendered quarantine measures. And since this statement, Human Rights Watch has documented six more incidents of discrimination, including one arrest. Other trans people said they avoided leaving their homes for fear of arrest or humiliation.
Between June 1 and June 7, Panama replaced its gender-based quarantine measures with a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. However, starting June 8, Panama reinstated the gendered quarantine in the provinces of Panama and West Panama, the country’s most populous, citing a rising number of Covid-19 cases.
Panama is not unique in setting gender-based quarantine measures but it is a rare approach, raising questions of whether it is necessary and proportionate, in addition to concerns about its discriminatory impact. For example, in Peru, similar measures were scrapped after just eight days. In Colombia, law enforcement officers in the capital, Bogota, were instructed to respect gender identity and did not demand an ID to enforce compliance. Bogota scrapped its gendered quarantine starting on May 11.
In four of the six new incidents that Human Rights Watch documented, police and private security agents discriminated against trans people when they left their homes for essential needs on days that corresponded to the sex marker on their national identification card. These people were complying with the rules established by the Health Ministry, but police or security agents believed they were out on the wrong day and targeted them due to their gender expression. In two other cases, trans people faced discrimination – and in one case, arrest – when they left home for essential needs on days that corresponded to their gender identity or expression.
International human rights law recognises that governments may be legally justified in restricting some rights, including freedom of movement, in the context of serious public health threats and public emergencies, like Covid-19. However, law enforcement agents and private entities may not discriminate against individuals on the basis of their gender identity or expression when enforcing emergency measures. Discrimination is particularly harmful when it keeps transgender people from seeking medical help or acquiring life-sustaining necessities like food and medicine, Human Rights Watch said.
The Panamanian government should establish clear guidance authorising residents to comply with the gender-based quarantine in accordance with their gender identity or expression, Human Rights Watch said. Currently, for the majority of transgender people who go out based on the sex marker on their identification, their gender expression is often different from their sex marker, making them vulnerable to profiling. Panama should also issue a directive for law enforcement agents reiterating the obligation to respect Panamanians’ gender identity and expression, and issue warnings along the same lines for private entities like supermarkets and their security agents.
«Many transgender people in Panama are trying to cooperate with the government in this time of public health crisis», Vivanco said. «The government of Panama should meaningfully respond to their realities and protect their rights».