A cross sectional study to assess the discrimination faced by trans genders in health care facilities- Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Authors

  • Chitra A. Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Sakthimarieswari G. M. Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Kaleeswaran S. Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Indhira V. R. Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Mythili Menon Pathiyil Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Shreyavarshini . Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20180247

Keywords:

Transgenders, Discrimination, Health care facilities

Abstract

Background: Transgender people are those who by definition, have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex at birth. The Government of Tamil Nadu was the first Indian state to pioneer welfare schemes for transgenders such as formation of transgender welfare board, creation of a third column for gender in college application forms. The study aims to assess the discrimination faced by the transgenders in health care facilities.

Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 50 transgenders using a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: Among 47 responendents, 17.6% of the transgenders had delayed going to hospital fearing discrimination. Harassment either in physical or verbal form experienced by 41.2% and 37.5% faced discrimination in form of judgemental looks or comments, while 5.9% of the transgenders were denied treatment altogether in the hospital. Denial of equal treatment experienced by 52.9% of the study participants.  

Conclusions: The study highlights that transgenders even today face considerable discrimination which refrains them from assessing health care facilities. Even though we in Tamil Nadu have pioneered with the formation of transgender board, free sex re-assignment surgery in government health care facilities, the utilisation by the transgenders are far from behind. This may be attributed due to the discrimination faced by the transgenders.

 

References

Bradford J, Reisner SL, Honnold JA, Xavier J. Experiences of transgender-related discrimination and implications for health: Results from the Virginia transgender health initiative study. Am J Public Health. 2013;103(10):1820–9.

Lambda Legal. When health care isn’t caring: Transgender and gender-nonconforming people. 2009; Available from: https://www.lambdalegal.org/ sites/default/files/publications/downloads/whcic-insert_transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-people.pdf. Accessed on 3 September 2017.

Transgender/Others - Census 2011 India.. Available at: http://www.census2011.co.in/transgender.php. Accessed on 20 November 2017.

Criminal tribes manual. . 1930. Available at: http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/web/readings/Simhadri.pdf. Accessed on 20 November 2017.

Chakrapani V. The Case of Tamil Nadu Transgender Welfare Board: Insights for Developing Practical Models of Social Protection Programmes for Transgender People in India; 2012: 1–41.

India court recognises transgender people as third gender - BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc. com/news/world-asia-india-27031180. Accessed on 9 November 2017.

Transgenders thank government for constituting welfare board - Tamil Nadu - The Hindu. Available at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/Transgenders-thank-government-for-constituting-welfare-board/article 15216763.ece. Accessed on 9 November 2017.

WHO. Transgender people. WHO. 2017. Available at: http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/transgender/en/. Accessed on 10 November 2017.

Gupta A, Sivakami M. Health and Healthcare Seeking Behaviour among Transgender in Mumbai: Beyond the Paradigm of HIV/AIDS. Soc Sci Spectr. 2016;2(1):63–79.

Grant JM, Mottet LA, Tanis J, Harrison J, Herman JL, Keisling M. Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Washingt Natl Cent Transgender Equal Natl Gay Lesbian Task Force. 2011;25:2011.

Collier R. Addressing transgender discrimination in health. CMAJ. 2015;187(17):493.

Downloads

Published

2018-01-24

How to Cite

A., C., G. M., S., S., K., V. R., I., Pathiyil, M. M., & ., S. (2018). A cross sectional study to assess the discrimination faced by trans genders in health care facilities- Chennai, Tamil Nadu. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 5(2), 662–666. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20180247

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles