Get to Know Manodiversa
“Our work arises in response to the multiple violations and forms of violence that people face due to their identities, sexual orientations, and gender expressions. Often, this violence seeks to punish and suppress diversity, limiting the full exercise of human rights.” –Manodiversa
Meet Manodiversa, a Bolivian NGO whose work in their local LGBTQIA+ community is as diverse as the people they serve. They offer programs for youth, adults, and elders, and their reach extends beyond urban areas to empower indigenous and rural people in creating supportive spaces that enable them to live authentically in their homes. An important facet of Manodiversa’s work in their community is promoting sexual and reproductive health, and Hesperian is honored to have our suite of apps incorporated into the tools their volunteers use to conduct outreach and deliver health information.
In a recent report, Manodiversa explained that in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, medical education and reproductive health programs are designed almost exclusively for heterosexual and cisgender women of childbearing age. This narrow focus ignores the needs of elderly, trans, and non-binary people, as well as same-sex couples. The lack of trained professionals, restrictive government policies, and social discrimination combine to form an intimidating barrier to health information for LGBTQIA+ people.
Meanwhile, strong religious and cultural taboos silence discussions around health based on the widespread misconception that even talking about sexuality in a more expansive way promotes homosexuality or “transgenderism.” This stigma not only limits health access, it escalates discrimination and encourages violence.
To address these issues and enact change, Manodiversa promotes dialogue and facilitates conversation around reproductive health in a way that includes lesbian women, bisexual women, trans men, and non-binary people who can get pregnant. By tailoring information to these diverse groups, they address key aspects of health including access to hormone therapy, mental health, and the specific care that trans people require.
Their work gives voice and visibility to people often left behind or dismissed in discussions of reproductive health. It also highlights the specific forms and effects of discrimination they experience, and bridges gaps in knowledge, self-care, and self-determination.
One of Manodiversa’s current programs, “Aborto en todas las personas diversas con capacidad de gestar (Abortion in all diverse people who can get pregnant),” promotes information about legal, safe abortion through advocacy, training, and digital actions. Aimed at individuals as well as health and legal professionals, the program seeks to ensure more effective implementation of legal abortion for LGBTQIA+ people. Through use of digital resources, infographics, and social media content, Manodiversa upholds access to reproductive health and the right to abortion for people who can get pregnant in Bolivia.
In a time when LGBTQIA+ rights in the US and countries worldwide are facing increased scrutiny around gender and bodily autonomy, Hesperian is thankful to know our reproductive health apps have become a part of Manodiversa’s important advocacy work. It’s through the support Hesperian receives that these trusted, privacy-first apps remain available to groups like Manodiversa to promote respectful and inclusive reproductive health care and essential health rights.
A heartfelt thank you to our donors for ensuring our reproductive health apps remain free and updated, and to Manodiversa for sharing with us how Hesperian’s apps are valuable tools for their outreach workers and volunteers. To follow Manodiversa and learn more about how they provide access to essential health care in their community, you can find them on the web at https://www.manodiversa.org/ or as @manodiversa on Instagram and YouTube.
