HRW urges govt to extend support to transgender people amid Covid-19

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Bangladesh government to extend its support to hijras, kothis, or transgender people, amid the Covid-19 crisis.

They urgently need food, cleaning supplies, medicine, safe housing, and general economic support, the international rights agency said in a statement released on Friday.

Many from the communities of hijras, kothis, or transgender people, live hand to mouth, depending entirely on income from their daily work, it cited.

But under the lockdown many of them will now lose their basic income from such means as collecting alms, participating in religious rituals, or sex work. Street closings add to the difficulty, the HRW added.

And while the restrictions are aimed at saving lives, for some, the lockdown presents a whole new set of risks. Among those who are acutely facing those risks are people who identify as hijras, kothis, or transgender people, it said.

Social distancing is crucial to stopping the spread of COVID-19 but for many of the poor in Bangladesh’s cities and towns, living and working conditions make distancing impossible, it pointed out.

The UN high commissioner for human rights and the World Health Organizations have both called for global inclusion of sexual and gender minorities in COVID-19 responses.

The government should use an inclusive approach to managing this crisis to ensure that the most vulnerable populations survive, they said.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief should start by issuing a directive specifically to include hijras, transgender people, kothis, sex workers and other vulnerable community members in Bangladesh’s pandemic response, the statement further said.

The government should work with community-based organisations with humanitarian assistance programmess to ensure that those most at risk are identified; make awareness messages about the illness accessible, including to those who are illiterate; and provide mental health support as part of its response, the HRW said.

As Bangladesh braces for the impact of COVID-19, with much of the country in lockdown, people with means have stocked food and hunkered down at home. But in a country where one in five people lives below the poverty line, for many Bangladeshis these precautions are impossible.

A recent survey to understand the impact of COVID-19 on third gender communities in Bangladesh found that 82 per cent of respondents hadn’t earned “a single penny in the last two weeks” and 59 per cent did not receive any support from aid programmes or families.

The survey also found that on average those surveyed spend more than a third of their income on rent. Some are afraid of eviction, which is looking increasingly likely for many, given that 86 per cent of respondents did not have savings and almost half owed payments on loans.

As Lara from Jatrabari said, “I have to go to the street and start begging. I don’t see any other way.”

As one sex worker said, “the members of my group are not doing well. They need to eat at least once if it’s not possible to take three meals.”

In her 31-point directive on Bangladesh’s response to COVID-19, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called for “special attention” and relief for “the most disadvantaged people” including the hijra community.

On April 15 the government allocated almost $1.2 million to the Social Welfare Ministry to provide aid to disadvantaged groups during the pandemic. In Dhaka, the deputy inspector general of police collaborated with Uttoran Foundation, a local charity, to distribute food to 100 transgender people. But aid has been relatively ad hoc and it is unclear who will receive government-promised aid and how.

In the circumstances, the HRW asked the Social Welfare Ministry to ensure transparency in the distribution of these much-needed funds — including specifying how much will go to hijras, transgender people, and Kothi people — and consult with local groups on how best to reach those in need.

It also called on the government to ensure the right to an adequate standard of living — enough food and water to live on, a decent place to live in — for everyone, without exception.

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