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Reports suggest that the transgender community is facing a nightmare like situation because of lack of separate quarantine centers. Again there is no one to listen.
The times of COVID-19 are the tough times. These times have made people see a whole new perspective. From sanitizing hands every 10 mins to practising quarantine, people have seen a lot of things. Quarantine facilities too, have been reported to be bad in many publications.
But one community that is hit the most during these times is the transgender community. A report published in the Times Of India highlighted how a of lack of separate quarantine facilities for the transgender community, their experience is nothing less than a nightmare.
According to the report, people of transgender communities in various parts of the country are facing many issues in quarantine facilities.
Sexually humiliated
An 18-year old transwoman cited that when she was quarantined in a school in Orissa she was put in there with 14 men. Even though she is a transwoman she was put in there with 14 men. As a result, she was subjected to humiliation, sexual innuendos, and cruel jokes about her anatomy.
Because that’s how we in our society treat transgenders because they are not normal. Right?
The teenager asked the authorities again and again for a separate room and it all went in vain.
Can’t go to the toilet
In another similar case in a quarantine centre in Mumbai, a 28-year old transwoman had to control her urge to go to the loo because women over there used to look at her and scream. Apart from that a lab assistant even asked her how much she charged for a night.
These incidents have again raised the question of why governments cannot be sensitive to the issues of the transgender community. Why is it so tough to understand that we live in a society where transgender people are discriminated against and humiliated?
Manipur is the only state in the country that has set up dedicated quarantine centres for stranded members of the transgender community for people who are returning to the state amid a nationwide lockdown.
So if setting up a separate facility is something that Manipur can do then why can’t other states do that too? How much more such horrifying nightmare-like experiences do people from the transgender community have to go through to make states realise their basic need for emotional security during the pandemic?
The transgender community and their needs have always been ignored by society and the government. COVID-19 has made it infinitely worse. Shouldn’t be be more sensitive going forward?
Image credits – ANI
I read, I write, I dream and search for the silver lining in my life. Being a student of mass communication with literature and political science I love writing about things that bother me. Follow read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
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14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
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