Need rethinking of policies in a gender centric way

In the scenario of the lockdown due to COVID- 19, discussions are happening on numerous topics, all over the globe and this pandemic has taken such a gigantic form that now we can connect everything to it, so why not gender? The Indian government is taking extraordinary measures to soon get rid out of this “National disaster”, even WHO is praising it for its lockdown move, but where all the doors are locked, trans people have been worst hit, financially, socially and physically. The objective of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Welfare Scheme (launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) is nobody will remain without money and food. It concerns the migrant workers, the women and the disadvantaged of the society. Sorry to say, but not a single word was amplified in the interest of the third gender in that press conference! The government has turned a blind eye to the needs of trans people as it does not have collection of data. The trans people who holds ration cards, gets the food, but nobody is concerned about their need assessment.

According to the 2011 census data, the population of transgenders is 4.8 lakh, out of which, only 10% possess Adhar card. The transgender community has people working in diverse areas. Many of them earns through social events and metros and trains, which has come to halt. They are paying house rent through past savings. One who works as a sex worker or indulges in begging is worst affected and they often get forcefully evacuated from their houses and pressurised to live in overcrowded slums and chawls, which could be a hotbed for the virus. Their life even becomes tougher when they face social ostracism in public places. At Hyderabad metro station, defaming transphobic posters were found and there was a warning written there that if you talk to trans people, then you will be infected with COVID- 19. 

Trans people are usually hesitant in opening up about their health problems even in front of doctors as they start taking puberty blockers doses to hide their trans identity before the age of 12 or 13 to eliminate the risk of gender dysphoria. They also take hormone therapy to make their body look symmetrical to desired sex. A regular medical check-up is crucial for the one who goes for such therapy or puberty blockers, but due to lockdown, they are unable to reach doctors. On the other hand, some of them are undesirably living with another sex or their families for quarantining or isolating themselves, which is again traumatic and exasperating.

Transgender community facing food
and financial crisis in Pakistan

At this point, when coronavirus cases are surging, the third gender has to take extra precautions because most of them are cancer and HIV patients or smokers or consumers of tobacco. They consume these deleterious substances 50% more than the general public. As per the research, 1 out of every 5 adult transgender suffers from at least one or more chronic health condition such as diabetes, arthritis, or asthma. Healthcare practitioners carry several questions in their minds in the wake of coronavirus outbreak such as: Where to place the third gender in? In the transwomen ward or male ward while in quarantine? Should a female doctor or nurse assist them? These questions should have been answered much earlier, gender sensitive healthcare may slip through the cracks.

In the US, President Trump is amending an act against trans people by revoking trans people from the beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act. However, it is at the halt as lawyers are putting an argument that this law should not be amended at least for now when COVID- 19 is at its verge of spreading. But Idaho lawmakers have proposed three bills against transgender, first restrains trans people from changing their gender identity on their birth certificates, second bans transwomen and girls from competing for the female sports teams and third treats trans youth for gender dysphoria a felony. The first two bills have already been passed and signed by the Governor and the third one got killed in the committee itself. “Boys are boys and girls are girls”, “No doctor, no judge, no Department of Health and Welfare is going to change that reality.” Republican state Sen. Lee Heider said. It’s really a disgraceful and condemnable act as the government has taken the undue advantage of this situation, when there is public health emergency, and no one is caring about such things.

When we talk about whole LGBTQ community, it highly suffers because of the orthodox and stereotypical thinking of patriarchal society. The society is always sceptic about the love gays and lesbian couples share with each other. Going to schools and colleges make them interact with their cisgenders and enjoy life, usually families do not understand them. But living 24*7 with family may suffer mentally at the period of lockdown. Their families are talking about marriage with opposite sex and commenting on appearance, resulting in self- isolation and it’s further hampering mental wellbeing. This even may lead to suicide, which can be stopped even if there is a support of one family member. There are 10 times more chances of a LGBTQ person delve into depression than his/her cisgender. How his/her family acts or thinks on this identity since childhood, plays a very vital role in shaping the career and personality.

I have heard that this virus is secular, any person of any religion could be gripped by this virus. Here, I am adding a few more words to this statement that this virus believes in gender equality, it could infect any gender. We all are in this together, leaving behind third gender will automatically make a space for virus to spread. Different genders have different needs and ignoring these needs leads to wrong implementation and failure of policies. Equity can be achieved when these different needs tackled and fulfilled by wearing a gender lens.