Dear all,
I am sharing an offensive article published by UNAIDS, I'm sure this article is intentioned and comes in a good way but taking in to consideration the use of male gender pronouns when talking about someone who is a transgender and who says she wants to live as a woman is really unacceptable in this article and something come from an agency like UNAIDS is putting the community identity of Transgenders in wrong picture.
This is the case of something from UN agency who are major policy makers not making the differentiation in the language used is sad.
I am also writing to UNAIDS to respond to this...
Regards
Laxmi
___________________
HIV programmes for MSM and transgendered people gradually being scaled up in India
17 May 2012
Rupali always felt he was different. Born as a boy in India, he liked wearing girls’ clothes and finally at the
age of 20, decided to disclose to his family his gender orientation. He declared he wanted to live as a woman.
When I first decided to tell people about my sexual orientation and gender identity, I was scared,� said the 22-year-old. But eventually I told everyone”my family, relatives, neighbours and friends.
Rupali did several jobs, but found it too difficult to live openly as a man who has sex with men and work in a mainstream office. So, for the past two years he has been a sex worker in New Delhi.
With the money he earns from his clients he supports his mother and younger brother. His mother has had a heart problem for several years and Rupali needs to pay for her costly medicines every month.
But his job threatens his health as Rupali has a high risk of HIV infection.
In India, the HIV epidemic is seriously affecting men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgendered people. Among this population, 427 000 (in
2010) are considered at higher risk because they have multiple sex partners and many receive money in exchange for sex.
When a customer is drunk, it is often difficult to convince him to use condoms,� said Rupali.
While sex work pays his bills, Rupali has been attacked several times. Like many transgendered people, Rupali finds it challenging to be fully accepted by his family and community. The local thugs keep us in a constant state of terror. We fear them striking our faces with blades or brutally beating us up. But we fear the police even more,� said Rupali.
In India, the prevalence of HIV among MSM reached 7.3%, which is 20 times higher than among the general population. Recent data shows that HIV prevalence among transgender people in major cities like Mumbai and Delhi has soared even higher to nearly 25%. HIV programmes for MSM and transgendered people are gradually being scaled up.
The Pahal Foundation in
Faridabad gets funding from the Haryana state government to provide HIV testing, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, counselling and condoms to 750 MSM and transgender people, but hundreds more use their facilities every month.
Many of us MSM try our best to appear straight, but eventually we get ˜outed. I know several people who lost their jobs because they were severely discriminated against by their co-workers
Manoj Kumar Verma, Outreach Worker at Pahal Foundation
Everyone needs a support system. Without the support of their families and society, men who have sex with men and transgendered people often take their own lives or run away from home,� said Maksoom Ali, Project Manager at Pahal.
The Foundation has found that only a handful of the people they support are open about their HIV status with their families.
Employment is a real problem for MSMs and transgender people,� said Manoj Kumar Verma, Outreach
Worker at Pahal. “Many of us MSM try our best to appear straight, but eventually we get ‘outed’. I know several people who lost their jobs because they were severely discriminated against by their co-workers.
There has been some progress in India for men who have sex with men and transgendered people. In the next phase of India’s National AIDS Control Programme (NACP4), there are plans to develop and implement programmes focused on the specific needs of transgender people. Three years ago, the Delhi High court decriminalized sex between adult men in a historic judgement.
Rupali is involved with an organization for MSM in West Delhi and he said he wants to contribute to his community. “Everyone has dreams but not all of them come true,� said Rupali. “That’s true for me too but I want to do something for my community and I want to be a better person.�
http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2012/may/20120517msmindia/--
Astitva
(An organisation for the Support and Development of Sexual minorities)
Project Office :
Gala No : 44,
Dadoji Kondev Stadium,
Kartan Road, Thane West,
Pin : 400606
PH : 91 9819018274 /
9892182184e-mail: <
asti...@gmail.com>
