Uruguay launched emergency counseling hotline for transgender people

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The consultation can be done by phone or video call and from any part of Uruguay. It may be through SMS or WhatsApp messages.

Two different cell phone numbers are available to Uruguayans: 099 156 142 or 094 070 518. A reply will be received asking for personal data and then a day and time for a consultation will be sent. The appointment is then scheduled.

Uruguay Trans Collective’s Collette Spinetti explained that the goal of this hotline is to offer a space for listening and support to address specific or pressing issues. It is not a therapeutic care service, which would be a long-term service, because the Collective does not have the funds for such a service.

However, if it is believed that the caller should receive this type of treatment, they are referred to institutions such as CRAM (Centro de Referencia Amigable) which provides a space for consultation, guidance and psychological assistance to the LGBTIQ population living in Uruguay. They will provide them with specialized and timely follow-up.

The telephone service is aimed at trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming people. However, any member of the LGBTIQ community may use the hotline. The trans population is prioritized because it is the one the Collective has the most experience with and the one it knows best.

“With the pandemic, the trans population’s mental health issues have worsened. Everything related to unemployment, confinement, domestic violence, violence in schools, increases anxiety, depression, agoraphobia and, with that, suicide attempts are on the rise. In fact, a few weeks ago a friend committed suicide,” Spinetti said.

It was for these very reasons that the hotline was created. It is presented as a space for “listening and psychological guidance” provided 24 hours a day by two psychologists, Paula Mederos and Alfonso Soria.

TELEPHONE ASSISTANCE SOLUTIONS

Almost a month after the coronavirus reached Uruguay, on April 14, 2020, an emotional support hotline was inaugurated by the State Health Services Administration (ASSE). The aim was to support the mental health of Uruguayans by fighting another pandemic, the psychological one.

Some 270 psychologists volunteered to staff the line and provide emotional support 24 hours a day and, after one year, they had received 29,400 calls. The queries made by callers were extremely diverse: from fear of death to anguish, uncertainty and unemployment.

This resource is still available in Uruguay, and not only for ASSE affiliates, but for any resident in the country.

In 2015, the Uruguayan healthcare system also introduced another hotline, albeit for a different audience. Line 1020 provides counseling, guidance and help to drug users, addicts and their families. The line is staffed 24 hours a day by non-volunteer psychologists.

Something similar occurred 3 years later. In 2018, ASSE created the Línea Vida, a hotline that aims to help lower Uruguay’s extremely high suicide rate. It is active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is assisted by 12 operators who specialized in the issue.