Transgender communities are in desperate need of support as they have been struggling without jobs and daily incomes, much like other members of vulnerable and minority groups across the country due to the current coronavirus situation.
In the last 30 days, transgender people in Khulna have not received relief in adequate measure, thus forcing them to struggle as they continue to be neglected even when people are uniting to help the poor and the needy.
Pakhi Dutta Hijra, president of Nokkhotro Manab Kalyan, a voluntary organization, said trans-men and women were stuck in their homes as restrictions had been placed around the city to contain the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, the members of this community were in miserable conditions without the daily necessities to help them sustain life.
“There are 220 members from the transgender community in Khulna. There has been some relief distribution from the district social services and other voluntary organizations. But it has not been enough to alleviate our sufferings,” said Pakhi.
Sadia, a member of Nokkhotro Manab Kalyan and resident of Khalishpur Housing Estate New Colony, lives with her mother and her younger sister. Her income used to sustain the family and cover her sister’s school cost.
But, as Sadia says, a few members of her community have received some support from the government which she has missed. She has been assured of more support in future.
Sadia’s mother Rina Begum said: “Since the coronavirus outbreak, we have been struggling as we have no savings.”
Shimla Hijra, spokesperson of her community in Khalishpur, said: “I have 14 Hijras under my supervision and I try my best to look after them. But this recent coronavirus pandemic has rendered all of us jobless and without incomes.”
Khulna District Department of Social Services Deputy Director Khan Motahar Hossain said: “We distributed food aid among 150 members of the transgender and Dalit communities on April 1. Later, another 85 such individuals were handed food items in cooperation with the city corporation. We can continue to do so depending on the amount of relief allocated to us from the government.”
Shafayet Rahman Tonmoy of Bandhu Sangathan, an organization working with transgender communities, said the organization had helped around 120 transgender people by providing them with food aid. “We have distributed relief materials worth Tk24 lakh among transgenders across the country.”
Chinnamul Manab Kalyan Society General Secretary Abul Hossain said the society too was continuing its efforts to support the vulnerable community.
Md Moshiur Rahman, deputy manager (public advocacy) of Bandhu Social Welfare Society, urged all his fellow social workers to stand by transgender people in any way they could during these tough times.