Youth-facing identity with institutional rigor
Youth X is the public-facing brand. “Youth” is also a plural lived experience.
Under Ecuadorian law, a young person is generally defined as someone between 18 and 29. Youth X uses that range as its core youth population while maintaining a distinct safeguarding pathway for adolescents under 18, because Silueta X has a documented history of work on education, health, protection and gender identity during adolescence.
Using the language of diverse youth recognizes that there is no single youth experience: LGBTQ+ youth, trans youth, Afro-descendant and Indigenous youth, migrants, young people with disabilities, neurodivergent youth, rural and urban youth, low-income youth, students, workers, caregivers and people whose experiences intersect across several of these realities.
Youth development model
Be safe. Belong. Learn. Create. Participate. Work. Lead.
Youth X connects services that are often delivered in isolation. The premise is simple: young people are better able to develop their capabilities when they can live their identity safely, access support and turn their interests into real opportunities.
Youth track record · 2009–2026
Young people were not added later as a target group; they were part of Silueta X from the beginning
The institutional archive documents a continuous thread across youth participation, health, education, skills development, rights, culture, wellbeing and pathways toward greater autonomy.
2009 · early participation
Youth meetings and gatherings
The archive records regular youth meetings, workshops and gatherings of young leaders before many of today’s program areas had formal names.
2010 · economic development
Trans youth, microenterprise and pathways to work
The project recognized through the 2010 Development Marketplace explicitly focused on social inclusion and microenterprise for trans youth, connecting poverty, employment exclusion, HIV and economic autonomy.
2010–2011 · trans youth health
Healthier transitions
A health information and education project on safer hormone use for trans people ages 15 to 29 directly reached 160 adolescents and young people through participatory methods and peer communication.
2011–2012 · youth leadership and HIV
Young people leading community health
The HIV Young Leaders Fund and Tides Foundation supported HIV, rights, identity and health education. The institutional archive records workshops with trans youth, leadership gatherings and activities involving young people in detention, schools, health services and the National Police.
2012 · institutional youth identity
An organization publicly described as a trans youth association
The Ibero-American Youth Network described Silueta X as an association of young transgender, transsexual and intersex people and documented its links with youth networks and spaces at regional and international levels.
2013–2015 · education
From anti-bullying policy to student advocacy
Silueta X contributed proposals to ensure that sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV and other grounds of discrimination were explicitly addressed in an anti-bullying framework, and later received and escalated cases of discrimination affecting students.
2014 · youth agency
Festival, youth space and local participation
The archive of a Mama Cash-supported project includes references to a Youth Festival, Mi Espacio Juvenil and a first local youth-agency gathering, alongside advocacy on education, health and rights.
2018–2020 · community spaces and protection
Casa Arcoíris, education and responses to violence
Silueta X community spaces opened rights, sexual-health, social-integration and reporting activities to LGBT+ youth. At the same time, the organization responded to school discrimination, family violence and possible coercive confinement.
2019–2026 · mental health
A distinctly youth-driven demand for care
Centro Psico X reported more than 3,800 consultations between 2019 and 2025; 65% involved people ages 18 to 23. This concentration makes youth mental health a structural component of the program.
2022–2025 · culture and self-care
Bodies, creativity and safety
Dance and embodied-expression classes for diverse youth, arts activities, suicide-prevention resources and the Protégete y Brilla guide expanded the work into physical safety, digital safety, mental health and self-care.
2024–2026 · identity and jurisprudence
Rights that reach both the classroom and identity documents
Silueta X participation as amicus curiae and in technical processes forms part of a broader chain of developments concerning trans children and adolescents: education, recognition of gender identity and legal-document rectification.
2025–2026 · talent and futures
Internships, technology and innovation
Silueta X pre-professional internships and Tech Labs X connect students and emerging talent with Law, Psychology, international affairs, communications, technology, automation, AI and real social-impact projects.
Inclusive education · retention · identity
A young person should never have to choose between staying in school and being who they are
Silueta X’s education work combines bullying prevention, reporting and case support, strategic litigation, family engagement and participation in institutional change.
2013 · education policy
Contributions to anti-bullying policy
Silueta X proposed that anti-bullying protections explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV, disability, migration status and other grounds of discrimination, and that protections extend to young people both within and beyond formal education settings.
2015–2019 · student cases
From school rules to everyday life
The archive records complaints related to gender expression and gender identity in secondary education, including cases in which trans students sought recognition in school uniforms and everyday school life.
2017–2025 · C.L.A.G.
One individual case that produced a national obligation
Silueta X participated as amicus curiae in the case of a trans girl who experienced discrimination in an educational institution. Constitutional Court Judgment 95-18-EP/24 led to reparative measures and a national protocol for supporting trans children and adolescents.
Life-course continuity
The transition into youth begins before age 18
Silueta X collaboration with trans childhood and adolescence initiatives, school-supply support, educational accompaniment and arts education for children makes it possible to build continuity without erasing the legal and safeguarding distinctions between childhood, adolescence and youth.
2022 · school support
Diverse families, trans children and adolescents
Silueta X and Fundación Niñez y Adolescencia Trans coordinated school-supply support and a community gathering for children from diverse families and children with diverse gender expression, as part of broader work concerning trans childhood, adolescence and youth.
View the record →Identity · justice · citizenship
Being 15 or 17 does not make a person’s identity less real
Silueta X legal advocacy on trans adolescence connects education, name, legal identity and evolving capacities. Youth X translates that experience into a program pathway for guidance, referral and access to rights.
Judgment 95-18-EP/24
Recognition within the education community
The decision in the C.L.A.G. case strengthened duties to protect students from discrimination based on gender identity and led to national non-repetition measures.
Judgment 4-24-CN/26
Legal identity during adolescence
In 2026, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court opened a legal pathway for a 15-year-old trans adolescent to request rectification of the sex marker under the conditions established by the judgment.
Judgment 1313-19-JP/26
Rectification and follow-up
The Court ordered the rectification of identity documents for a 17-year-old trans adolescent; Silueta X had participated in the case as amicus curiae and continues to monitor implementation publicly.
Youth X program architecture
Twelve pathways from protection to autonomy, and from support to leadership
Each pathway can operate independently, but the program’s distinctive value lies in its connection with Silueta X’s specialized units and programs.
01 · Belonging
Safe spaces and community
Peer connection, support networks, inclusion, initial guidance, peer-led activities and referral to services.
02 · Education
School retention and inclusive education
Bullying prevention, student rights, case accompaniment, family engagement, school climate and education advocacy.
03 · Wellbeing
Mental health and suicide prevention
Psychoeducation, risk identification, support networks, psychological referral, telepsychology and self-care.
04 · Health
Sexual health, HIV and body care
Evidence-based information, combination HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive rights, risk reduction and referral to health services.
05 · Protection
Violence, bullying and digital safety
Pathways for responding to violence, family and school discrimination, street-based risks, online harassment, privacy concerns and support needs.
06 · Justice
Identity and access to rights
Guidance, accompaniment, reporting, legal identity, strategic litigation and connection with Consultorio Jurídico X.
07 · Culture
Art, dance, acting and embodied expression
Dance, theater, acting, literature, drag, vogue, visual arts and creative practice as tools for self-expression, belonging and skill development.
08 · Participation
Youth leadership and agency
Youth gatherings, leadership development, civic oversight, civic participation, co-creation and representation of youth proposals.
09 · Technology
AI, digital skills and Tech Activism
Digital literacy, AI, automation, content creation, data, digital safety and technology for social impact.
10 · Experience
Internships and the education-to-work transition
Pre-professional internships, mentoring, real projects, networking, certification and competency development.
11 · Autonomy
Youth employment and entrepreneurship
Business skills, employability, job fairs, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and diversified opportunities.
12 · Evidence
Research with and about young people
Data, participatory research, evaluation, documentation of gaps and youth participation in interpreting evidence.
Safeguarding · ethics · participation
Youth participation needs power. It also needs care.
Youth X clearly distinguishes safeguarding obligations for adolescents under 18 from the autonomy of young adults. Safety must never become an excuse to silence young people; participation must never ignore risk.
A cross-cutting program
Youth X does not duplicate Silueta X’s specialized units. It turns them into an integrated pathway for young people.
The institutional advantage lies in connecting youth needs with specialized capacities that already exist.
Alignment with international youth-development frameworks
Meaningful participation + safeguarding + skills + opportunity
Youth X aligns with international approaches that recognize adolescents and young people as rights-holders and development actors, not passive recipients of activities.
These references indicate programmatic and methodological alignment only; they do not imply funding, accreditation or an institutional relationship with UNFPA, UNICEF or UNDP.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
Measure how meaningfully a young person participates, not only how many times they attended
Youth X combines indicators of access, quality, skills and participation. The goal is to understand trajectories and outcomes, not produce decorative numbers.
young people co-designing, leading or evaluating activities.
cases supported, retention and barriers removed.
referrals, access to psychological care and perceived support.
education, prevention and successful referrals.
digital, creative, civic and work-related competencies.
internships, real projects, mentoring and certifications.
employment, entrepreneurship and new opportunities.
proposals, policies, decisions and institutional change.
Partnerships for young people
An opportunity scales when health, education, community and future pathways are connected
Youth X is designed for collaboration with universities, schools, health services, public institutions, companies, youth-led organizations, LGBTQ+ networks, international cooperation partners and cultural spaces.
Youth-led and youth-serving organizations
Co-create
Youth assessments, leadership development, peer networks, campaigns, participation and projects built from young people’s lived experience.
Academia and institutions
Research and build capacity
Internships, research, inclusive education, innovation, professional development, evidence production and impact evaluation.
International cooperation and private sector
Open pathways to opportunity
Life and work skills, mental health, technology, economic inclusion, workplace experiences and the education-to-employment transition.
Archive and sources
A verifiable youth track record
Selected documents and pages that support the program’s main areas of work.
Institutional memory with rigor
Language evolves; evidence remains
Historical documents use terminology from their time — including TILGB, transsexual and certain medical formulations. Youth X preserves the evidence of those actions without automatically reproducing categories that have since evolved.
Scope: several historical actions focused specifically on trans youth. The current program broadens its lens to diverse young people without retroactively claiming that earlier projects reached populations they did not document.
Protection: cases involving violence, suicide and transfemicide are used to understand systemic failures and design prevention; victims are not turned into promotional assets for the program.
Asociación Silueta X en Guayaquil y Quito Ecuador 