Programme supervisor Mama Tere There's frustration at the short timeframe and ultimate cancellation of a scheme which was helping young transgender sex workers in south Auckland find work outside the sex industry and legally change their names. TheNew Zealand Herald today reported five former sex workers, aged 18 to 24, were employed by the Mangere East Family Service Centre in November under Work and Income's Community Max scheme. The scheme paid non-profit groups to employ young people for 30 hours a week for six months, at the minimum wage. The group ran a holiday programme and planned education programmes about transgender issues for schools. They also applied for jobs outside the sex industry and changed their names by deed poll. The programme sought to get them drivers' licences in their current names, but ran out of time to do within the six month period, which ended last month. Since then, none of the five women have found a new job or been granted a benefit - and the Community Max Scheme was canned altogether by the Government in the most recent Budget. Mama Tere, who supervised the Mangere East programme, tells GayNZ.com the situation is disappointing. "The Government does something for six months and it's like, where do you go from there?" she says. Tere says it is a sad situation. "Touch wood, they haven't gone back out in the streets. They're really determined to turn their lives around. You know, we have to deal with a lot of the psychological issues that they're faced with – and just being able to cope with everyday mishaps and society as a whole." The community worker thinks six months wasn't long enough for the programme in the first place. "You just get them to realise a change of lifestyle and then they're dealing with a lot of their own emotional and psychological issues, getting over a lot of their street life ways ... let alone trying to deal with their gender as well." Tere says the women are told to go out and look for jobs, "but what kind of CV can you actually do up? Straight from school to what? Street worker? Will they give you a job? How do you butterfly that up?" Tere says gaining a skill-base and motivation are vital in the transition from the streets into work. Two of the young women have been taken in by a Mangere family. "I really commend the family," Tere says. "I've been able to support the family by getting food parcels and things like that, but the reality is that it shouldn't happen to anybody." Update from Work and Income: Work and Income Auckland Regional Director Losa McAlpine says every effort is and will continue to be made in supporting the young people into work. She says the Community Max programme is a programme which Mama Tere and the young people knew would end after six months. "Work and Income staff have been discussing ways to improve support for the transgender community with Mama Tere. In terms of employment support and benefit payments, these young people need to take some responsibility for meeting their obligations. Benefits have been granted when appointments have been met and paperwork provided," McAlpine says. "A meeting was set up last week to discuss an arrangement to have a Work and Income staff member visit the centre weekly. I'm pleased to advise that this will occur from next week." Ms McAlpine says Work and Income staff work very hard to ensure all people can access its services in way they feel comfortable with. The Transgender Inquiry: In January 2008 the Human Rights Commission published the report of the Transgender Inquiry. It had five key recommendations: · increasing participation of trans people in decisions that affect them · strengthening the legal protections making discrimination against trans people unlawful · improving access to health services, including gender reassignment services · simplifying requirements for change of sex details on a birth certificate, passport and other documents · giving urgent attention to the significant human rights issues experienced by intersex people. The HRC says the Ministry of Justice is overseeing and coordinating government agencies' assessment and implementation of the inquiry's recommendations. They have written a progress report for the Minister of Justice, who has asked for another update in July.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 17th June 2010 - 12:49pm