Despite
the recent attention directed toward transgender people, they and their health
needs remain unmet, according to a new Series.
2015
was an unprecedented year in the recognition of transgender rights in some
high-income countries. However, as the study reveals, public recognition has
yet to translate to a concerted effort to support and improve the health of
transgender people across the world.
The
Series was compiled with input of members of the transgender community and
provides an assessment of the health of transgender people worldwide. While the
study points to major gaps in our understanding of transgender health because
of a failure to recognise gender diversity in public health efforts, the
authors say there is enough information about this marginalised group to act
now.
Estimates
suggest there are around 25 million transgender people worldwide. Routinely
denied their rights, transgender people often face stigma, discrimination and
abuse leading to marginalisation which has further damaging effects on their
physical and mental health. As a result of this social and legal context,
transgender people have high rates of depression. Often excluded from families
or the workplace, transgender people are at greater risk of engaging in risky
behaviour (sex work or drug use for instance) and studies have shown
transgender people are at almost 50 times greater risk of HIV than the general
population. Violence against transgender people is widespread and in between
2008 and 2016, there were 2115 documented killings of transgender people across
the world, with many other murders likely going unreported or misreported.
"Many
of the health challenges faced by transgender people are exacerbated by laws
and policies that deny them gender recognition. In no other community is the
link between rights and health so clearly visible as in the transgender
community," says one of the lead authors for the Series, Sam Winter of the
Curtin University.
Winter
added, "Faced with stigma, discrimination and abuse, transgender people
are pushed to the margins of society, excluded from the workplace, their
families and health care. Many are drawn into risky situations or behaviours,
such as unsafe sex or substance abuse, which leave them at risk of further ill
health."
The new
Series is published in The Lancet.
Representative
Image
Source:
ANI
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