India's 'invisible' trans community struggles as coronavirus shuts life down
Thompson Reuters reports:
//- India’s coronavirus lockdown leaves transgender people at heightened risk of poverty and ill health because they exist on the margins of society, eking out a living through sex work and begging, activists and community members said on Tuesday.
The warning came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in the country of 1.3 billion, where the virus has claimed at least nine lives.
Anindya Hajra, a trans woman who works with the Pratyay Gender Trust on transgender livelihood issues, said India’s estimated 2 million trans people would be among those worst hit by the move because many make their living on the streets.
“They do not have the social privilege of operating within a distant ‘online’ world when their lives are precariously balanced on the thread of social interaction and functions,” said Hajra.//
Not all Indian transgender women belong to the Hijra community, but many do, and as such they are often ostracized and looked down upon.
The lives of transgender people of India is very difficult in times of a pandemic and lockdown. (Photo: Preeti Choudhary)
Preety Choudary has written an interesting article on being a transperson in India during Covid-19 pandemic over at Daily O:
//Since their livelihood is largely dependent on dealing with the public and community-oriented jobs, the Hijras are financially affected in the times of pandemic. Like daily wage workers, the Hijras earn on a day-to-day basis from begging, badhai-kirtan [giving blessings] or sex work.
With even the marriage ceremonies being postponed following the health advisory guidelines and social distancing, their work is affected and it leaves them to rely on what they already have.
At a time when death is looming on heads, who would celebrate a birth? Who would come out to give alms? Who would risk their life for momentary pleasure? And how will the transgender population, already far removed from the mainstream crowd, sustain during these times of lockdown?//
During the times of lockdown, the government needs to pay heed to its third gender population, Choudary says. “This is a community that has never been given its due with dedicated policies and advisories that are meant especially for them.”
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Top photo: Danish Siddiqui
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