Context: AIIMS, New Delhi, plans to launch a Centre of Excellence for transgender healthcare in 2024, addressing historical discrimination and marginalization.
Transgender individuals have faced pathologization and mental health stigmatization, enduring practices like "conversion therapy." The community encounters healthcare barriers due to infrastructure exclusion and insufficient services.
While AIIMS's initiative is positive, it should be viewed as a partial solution, focusing on specific needs rather than a comprehensive remedy for all challenges.
About Transgender: Transgender is a general term that describes people whose gender identity, or their internal sense of being male, female, or something else, does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. By contrast, the term cisgender describes people whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
As per the Census of 2011, the total population of Transgender in India is 4.9lakh
Challenges Faced by Transgender Persons in India:
- Social Stigma and Discrimination: Transgender individuals often encounter pervasive social stigma and discrimination, leading to their marginalization. This discrimination can manifest in various aspects of life, including familial rejection, exclusion from educational institutions, and workplace discrimination. The lack of societal acceptance contributes significantly to the challenges faced by transgender individuals.
- Many transgender persons experience barriers to education, ranging from bullying and harassment in schools to exclusion from formal education systems. As a result, they may face challenges in skill development and securing employment opportunities. Many transgender children in India often face the necessity of leaving schools due to the lack of preparedness in educational institutions to accommodate individuals with diverse sexual identities.
- Despite the fact that there are seats available in colleges and workplaces, transgender people do not occupy them because they are discriminated against.
- Discrimination and lack of awareness in workplaces further hinder their professional growth.
- Access to inclusive and gender-affirming healthcare remains a critical challenge for transgender individuals.
- Transgender individuals encounter direct discrimination and denial when seeking housing, facing obstacles related to the unavailability of gender-neutral or separate transgender toilets. Additionally, they confront discrimination when accessing public toilets.
- Violence and Harassment: Transgender individuals are disproportionately vulnerable to violence and harassment, both in public spaces and within their homes.
- Cultural Insensitivity: Cultural insensitivity and a lack of awareness about transgender issues perpetuate discrimination and bias.
- Economic Vulnerability: Transgender individuals often grapple with economic vulnerability due to discrimination in the job market and limited employment opportunities.
- Economically marginalized, transgender individuals find themselves compelled to engage in professions such as prostitution and begging for survival, or turning to the exploitative entertainment industry.
- When their parents refuse to accept them, many of them become like orphans. They scavenge for food in the slums. They aren’t given any work. As a result, they take up any job that comes their way.
- Mental Health Concerns: The cumulative impact of societal pressures, discrimination, and lack of support can lead to mental health challenges within the transgender community.
- Identity Documentation: Obtaining accurate and gender-affirming identity documents is a persistent challenge for many transgender persons. Despite the government passing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which grants the transgender community the right to self-perceived gender identity, they still face coercion to identify with a gender not associated with their true identity in the workplace.
- Certain documents in India, such as the passport, still do not have the provision of transgender as a gender marker.
Steps taken by government
- In a landmark judgment in 2014, the Supreme Court of India, in the case of the National Legal Services Authority versus Union of India, set the precedent for the rights of transgender individuals by officially acknowledging 'transgender' as a distinct 'third gender.' The ruling not only bestowed legal recognition on the transgender community but also outlined crucial measures to prevent discrimination against them and safeguard their rights.
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019
- Definition of a transgender person: The act defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, genderqueers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra.
- Self-identification: A transgender person may make an application to District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating gender as ‘transgender’.
- Prohibition against discrimination: Prohibits discrimination against a transgender person in
- Education, employment and healthcare.Access to goods, facilities, and opportunities available to the public. Right to move, reside, rent, or otherwise occupy the property.
- Opportunity to hold public or private office.
- Welfare measures by the government: Mandated government to undertake measures to ensure full inclusion, and participation of transgender persons in society and steps for their rescue and rehabilitation, vocational training and self-employment, create schemes that are transgender sensitive and promote their participation in cultural activities.
- Offences and penalties: Recognize offences against transgender persons like forced or bonded labour; denial of use of public places; physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse. Penalties for these offences vary between 6 months & 2 years, and a fine.
- National Council for Transgender Persons (NCT): consists of
- Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson).
- Minister of State for Social Justice (Vice-Chairperson)
- A representative from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, and Human Resources Development. Other members include representatives of the NITI Aayog and the National Human Rights Commission.
- Representatives from the transgender community and five experts from non-governmental organisations.
The Council will advise the central government as well as monitor the impact of policies, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons. It will also redress the grievances of transgender persons.
SMILE SCHEME
- SMILE stands for Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood & Enterprise. It is an umbrella scheme to provide welfare measures to the Transgender community and people engaged in begging.
- Two sub-schemes:
- (1) Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons
- (2) Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons Engaged in the Act of Begging.
Components under Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons Scheme:
- Scholarships for Transgender Students studying in IX and till post-graduation to enable them to complete their education.
- Skill Development and Livelihood under the PM-DAKSH scheme of the Department.
- Composite Medical Health: A comprehensive package in convergence with PM-JAY supporting Gender-Reaffirmation surgeries through selected hospitals.
- Housing in the form of ‘GarimaGreh’: Shelter Homes ‘Garima Greh’ where food, clothing, recreational facilities, skill development opportunities, recreational activities, medical support etc. will be provided.
- Provision of Transgender Protection Cell: Setting up of Transgender Protection in each state to monitor cases of offences and to ensure timely registration, investigation and prosecution of offences.
- E-Services (National Portal & Helpline and Advertisement) and other Welfare Measures.
Components under Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the Act of Begging:
- Survey and identification: The Implementing Agencies shall conduct a Survey and Identification of beneficiaries.
- Mobilisation: Outreach work will be done to mobilise the persons engaged in begging to avail the services available in the Shelter Homes.
- Rescue/ Shelter Home: The shelter homes will facilitate education for children engaged in the act of Begging and children of persons engaged in the act of Begging.
- Comprehensive resettlement.
Reforming the transgender community requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses various aspects of their lives.
Here are steps to be taken:
- Legal Protections: Ensure effective implementation of laws like the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and take steps to eliminate discrimination, ensuring equal rights and opportunities.
- Education and Awareness: Implement educational programs to promote awareness and understanding of transgender issues, fostering acceptance and reducing stigma.
- Employment Opportunities: Create policies and initiatives that promote inclusivity in the workplace, providing equal opportunities for transgender individuals and eliminating discrimination.
- Healthcare Access: Develop transgender-friendly healthcare services, addressing specific health needs and ensuring access to gender-affirming treatments.
- Gender-Neutral Facilities: Establish gender-neutral facilities, including toilets and changing rooms, to ensure that public spaces are inclusive and accessible to transgender individuals.
- Skill Development: Provide skill development programs and vocational training to empower transgender individuals economically, facilitating their entry into various professions.
- Media Representation: Promote positive and diverse representations of transgender individuals in media to challenge stereotypes and foster a more inclusive societal perception.
- Cultural Sensitivity: Encourage cultural sensitivity training for various sectors, including law enforcement, healthcare, and educational institutions, to ensure respectful and unbiased interactions with the transgender community.
By taking these steps, society can work towards creating an environment that respects the rights, dignity, and well-being of transgender individuals, fostering an inclusive and equitable society.