University of São Paulo: Research wants to map and meet the demands of the trans and transvestite public at USP
To promote actions to combat transphobia in the university environment, the research and extension project Corpos Trans e Travestis at Universidade de São Paulo ( Corpas trans na USP ) launched a quantitative survey to map and get to know trans and transvestites from all walks of life. USP campus. Anyone who is 18 years of age or older and who identifies as a trans or transvestite person who belongs to one of the groups in the USP community can respond to the questionnaire available on this link : undergraduate or graduate students, technical-administrative staff, researchers postdoctoral fellows and professors.
“We need to know who the trans people who attend USP are, their aspirations and the difficulties they face. The results of this research will help to understand the trans population (their socioeconomic needs, their physical and psychological well-being, and their resilience) and will support the development of institutional measures and policies to make the University more diverse and inclusive of the trans and transvestite population.” , explain the organizers of the survey.
The entire project team, made up of professors, undergraduate and graduate students, is made up only of trans people. Most of the members are from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences (FFLCH). “From this initial mapping, from this quantitative questionnaire (…), we will later carry out in-depth interviews with some people who want to participate in the research to understand how these trans experiences take place at USP”, said Silvana Nascimento, from the Department of Anthropology at the FFLCH. She also highlighted some problems already identified: in relation to the social name and the use of the correct pronoun, multiple forms of transphobia in classrooms, bathrooms and living spaces.
The questionnaire will be answered completely anonymously and identification data will be kept confidential. Afterwards, the results will be made available and published on the project website .
support networks
The project was born in the first semester of 2021 from an initiative of professors from USP and Coletivo Xica Manicongo, a movement of trans and transvestites students at the University, founded in 2020. Through a first mapping, the need arose to develop a project to know the experiences of the trans community within the space of USP and build actions to face transphobia in the university environment.
To carry out the actions, the project received undergraduate scholarships linked to the Unified Scholarship Program (PUB 2021) of the Pro-Rectory of Graduation and was contemplated by the ODS/ONU 2021 Public Notice of the Pro-Rectory of Culture and University Extension.
“The purpose of the project is to collaborate in the construction of spaces for coexistence and support networks through research, educational and training activities, reception and mobilization of the academic community in relation to the trans theme. The aim is to produce social impact in favor of the realization of human rights and the reduction of social and gender inequalities, fighting all transphobia that is undertaken institutionally or informally within USP”, highlights the project’s website.