Da violência epistemológica a epistemologias próprias: experiências de narrativas com mulheres cis periféricas, mulheres trans e travestis / From epistemological violence to own epistemologies: narrative experiences with peripheral cis women, trans women and transvestite

RESUMO Este artigo apresenta compreensão de problemáticas enfrentadas por mulheres cis periféricas, mulheres trans e travestis na construção de epistemologias próprias no campo das ciências. Para tal, baseia-se no campo construído por três teses de doutorado, cujos autores são os mesmos deste artigo. As teses, embora não tenham como foco principal e central o mesmo do presente artigo, evidenciam, a partir do campo construído, que pouco conhecimento a respeito das populações trans, travesti e periférica é produzido por seus integrantes. Identifica-se, a partir da releitura do material produzido pelos pesquisadores, a existência de trincheiras, que se interpõem no caminho percorrido por mulheres trans, travestis e mulheres cis periféricas para produzir conhecimento. São elas: a própria sobrevivência, a permanência no ensino e a validação do conhecimento produzido por corpos e existências não hegemônicas. Discute-se, por fim, que há um descompasso entre as políticas de educação vigentes e as experiências vividas, indicando uma fissura em práticas de saúde e no cuidado integral dessa população. A isso, somam-se violências e iniquidades em saúde que acabam interferindo na comunicação e na potência do saber popular como estratégia de resistência e saber científico, contrapondo-se ao saber acadêmico hegemônico.

ABSTRACT This article presents an understanding of the problems faced by peripheral cis women, trans women, and transvestites in the construction of their own epistemologies in the field of sciences. For that, it is based on the field built by three doctoral theses, whose authors are the same as in this article. The theses, although they do not have the main focus of the present article, show, from the field constructed, that little knowledge about the trans, transvestite, and peripheral populations is produced by their members. From the re-reading of the material produced by the researchers, the existence of trenches is identified, which stand in the path taken by trans women, transvestites, and peripheral cis women to produce knowledge. The trenches are: survival, permanence at university, and the validation of knowledge produced by bodies and non-hegemonic existences. Finally, it discusses the existing mismatch between the current education policies and the experiences, indicating a fissure in health practices and in the comprehensive care of this population. In addition, we see violence and inequities in health that end up interfering in the communication and power of popular knowledge as a strategy of resistance and scientific knowledge, in contrast to hegemonic academic knowledge.

Young age and sex work are associated with HIV seroconversion among transgender women in São Paulo, Brazil

Background: Transgender women worldwide have among the highest prevalence of HIV and the lowest access to prevention among groups at risk. However, few longitudinal studies have directly measured HIV incidence and identified predictors of HIV acquisition among transgender women. Setting: São Paulo, Latin America's largest city. Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study among transgender women in São Paulo. Participants were recruited by a long-chain peer referral process from May 2017 to July 2019. Those age 18 years and older and HIV-negative at baseline were retested every 6 months up to 18 months. HIV incidence was calculated by dividing the number of seroconversions by the person-years (py) of follow-up; 95% confidence intervals (CI) were constructed assuming a Poisson distribution. Conditional maximum likelihood ratios assessed differences in HIV incidence by risk factors. Results: A racial/ethnically diverse sample of 545 transgender women were enrolled. In 485.5 py of follow-up, 13 seroconversions were observed yielding an incidence of 2.68 per 100 py (95% CI 1.43­4.58). HIV incidence was significantly higher among transgender women age 18 to 24 years (rate ratio 3.85, 95% CI 1.24­12.93) and among those who engaged in sex work in the preceding month (rate ratio 5.90, 95% CI 1.71­26.62). Conclusion: HIV transmission continues at a high rate among transgender women in Brazil. Factors such as young age, lower level of education, and limited employment opportunities may lead to dependence upon sex work which in turn increase HIV risk. Transgender-friendly prevention services, particularly programs delivering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are urgently needed.