Between social constraint and resourcefulness: access to the labour market of trans women in Lima (Peru)

Access to decent work is a crucial element for human development; however, in several
countries, trans women confront the most significant challenges to develop successful labour
trajectories due to the prejudice against their gender identity expression. As such,
trans women in Peru mostly dedicate to stigmatised economic activities: sex work (64%) and
hairdressing (28%), while only 3% works under formal conditions (Salazar et al. 2010). This
situation is generated by direct discrimination from employers who do not hire them due to
their gender identity and limited access to the education system (Defensoria del Pueblo,
2016; No tengo Miedo, 2016).
Nevertheless, besides discrimination, other factors explain trans women's labour
trajectories: their gender performance as well as their access to social, cultural, and
economic capital (Grados, 2014). In that sense, their body's feminisation, the adoption of
signs of femininity that allow them to be recognised by others in this way (Ekins, 1996),
makes the transgression to the heteronormative order more evident, reducing their job
opportunities.
The beginning of their feminisation is associated with their access to capital,
which is reproduced by their family support and studying higher education opportunities.
Therefore, this thesis will focus on comprehending how trans women's gender performance
and access to capital influence their labour trajectories in Lima (Peru).
This is a highly unresearched topic in academia, which provides an original contribution to
the existing literature about inequalities by exploring the interlinks between gender identity
performance and the labour market.Moreover, analysing the Peruvian case is pivotal to
comprehend similar dynamics in Latin America.