Nadia Echazú

Nadia Echazú (died 18 July 2004) was an Argentine human rights activist and a founder of the Organization of Transvestis and Transsexuals of Argentina (OTTRA). The Nadia Echazú Textile Cooperative is named in her honour; it trains transgender people with the aim of facilitating their integration into the economy. Echazú is cited in the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy as a key thinker in the development of Trans philosophy in Argentina.

Early life Born in Salta, Salta Province, Echazú moved to Córdoba in the 1980s where she worked as a sex worker in the Second Police Precinct. She was a strong proponent of the legal rights of travesti people.

From 1995 to 1998, Argentine police had the authority to detain people in public whom they perceived to be transgender.

Legacy

In 2008, the activist collective she was active in launched a workers' cooperative bearing her name: the Nadia Echazú Textile Cooperative. It was co-founded by Marlene Wayar. This enterprise has been recognized by national and international institutions and organizations and promotes social integration, an idea outlined by Echazú to lift trans women out of the marginalization and prostitution to which they were relegated. At this centre, training and experience are offered to transgender people with the aim of facilitating their integration into the economy.

Echazú is cited in the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy as a key thinker in the development of Argentine transgender philosophy.