Meet the two women fighting to see Latin American representation on the next census

Two young women from Brixton are campaigning for representation for South Americans in South London.

Valentina Andrade, 23 and Elizabeth Alvarado, 25, want Latin Americans to be recognised as an ethnic group by the 2031 census.

The census is undertaken by the Office for National Statistics every 10 years and provides a picture of all the people and households in England and Wales.

But the Latin American community is still not recognised as a category by the census or any other major body.

Ms Alvarado, a second generation migrant from Ecuador, said: “We have been campaigning to be on the census forever.

“How do you fight such invisibility? How do you get people to see you when you are right on their doorstep?”

Ms Andrade and Ms Alvarado met at the activist youth movement, Advocacy Academy, in Vining Street, Brixton seven years ago.

Ms Andrade, who was born in Columbia, said: “From there we started sharing lived experiences that we had found as women, as Latinas, as a first and second generation migrant and we said ‘we want to do things, we want to change things and we want everyone to not feel the same way that we felt’.”

At just 16 years old, Ms Andrade did a campaign on Latin American youth in London. She explained that she went to King’s College London (KCL) to ask for data about how many students at the college were Latin American.

She said: “They basically said there are none. But I had friends there and that made me realise for the first time that in an institution such as King’s that has a lot of power they didn’t recognise my community.”

As a result of Ms Andrade and Ms Alvarado’s campaign as part of Advocacy Academy, King’s now includes Latin Americans as an ethnic category on their application forms.

A spokeswoman from KCL said: “We do hold data on the ethnicity of our students if they have chosen to declare it.”

On their journey to representation, Ms Andrade and Ms Alvarado have written and produced their own play.

My Uncle is Not Pablo Escobar, currently on show at Brixton House in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, has been in the making for seven years.

The play is performed by an all-female cast from South London, and challenges toxic stereotypes of Latin American people.

Ms Alvarado said: “I think the biggest stereotype is the drug stereotype, that we are all somehow related to Pablo Escobar even though there is more than just Columbia in South America.

“There is also the stereotype that women marry English men for papers or because they are gold diggers. We’re either hypersexualised or just cleaners.”

The Latin American community is one of the fastest growing migrant communities in London. It increased nearly four-fold between 2001 and 2011 and continues to grow each year.

By 2013, there were a quarter of a million Latin Americans living in the UK, and the majority live in the South London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.

Reports by Queen Mary University found that 45 per cent of the Latin American community endured workplace abuse, and that one in five experienced wage theft between 2011 and 2016.

Ms Alvarado said: “This show is us doing that little bit to get us seen by the community. 

“To fight that lack of representation and say even if you don’t want to see us we are here and we are going to make a show.”

A spokesman from ONS said: “Our recommendations on tick boxes for Census 2021 were made following extensive research and consultation with groups and individuals.

“No group was missed out and Latin Americans could still self-identify with their chosen background or group using any of the write-in response options aided by the “search as you type” functionality online.

“ONS worked across the country, with local groups and organisations, to raise awareness of the census and promote the different response options available.”

Watch the South London Press speak with Valentina Andrade and Elizabeth Alvarado here.

Pictured top: From left, Elizabeth Alvarado, Valentina Andrade (Picture: Claudia Lee)