The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Panel to look into grievances of transgenders

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 28, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Panel to look into grievances of transgenders

Special Correspondent

The decision follows recommendations from jury members

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

HEARING GRIEVANCES: Qudsia Gandhi, Member, Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women (right), and K.M. Ramathal chairperson (second from right), interacting with representatives of transgenders in Chennai on Thursday.

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women will constitute a four-member committee to look into the grievances of transgenders, its chairperson K.M. Ramathal said on Thursday.

The committee would comprise a representative each from the police force and transgender community, a social worker and a lawyer and would receive complaints from the transgenders and pursue their redress.

This decision was taken as part of a set of recommendations from a panel of jury members who were present at a public hearing on transgender rights early this month.

Organised jointly by the Tamil Nadu State Women’s Commission and TASA, a network of organisations working in the sector, the public hearing had 25 representatives of the transgender community give vent to their grievances. The jury members included Dr. Ramathal, K. Sampath Kumaran, retired Punjab High Court judge, K.M. Marimuthu, former vice chancellor, Bharathiyar University, Ossie Fernandez, director, Human Rights Research and Advocacy Foundation, P. Kalimuthu, former Director General of Police and Qudsia Gandhi, member, SCW.

Addressing presspersons, Dr. Ramathal said one of the key recommendations made was to include transgenders in the legislation against eve teasing, to address their oft-repeated complaint that they were being harassed by men without any provocation.

The jury had also recommended that provisions should be made in government hospitals to perform sex-change surgeries for transgenders. Arrangements would also be made with insurance companies and some employers to provide the transgenders with insurance policies and jobs as per their abilities.

The censor board should be sensitive to scenes and portrayals in the media that disparage the transgenders or their lifestyles. To pursue this issue, the SCW would write to members of the film federation, television and film producers and directors and the Censor Board.

Another recommendation placed before the government was to recognise the right to housing and land for transgenders and at the earliest provide housing facilities, Mr. Fernandez said. Further, the jury, after consideration of the Yogyakartha principles — on the application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity — has recommended it to the state to base their comprehensive policy for the protection of these groups.

Another recommendation indicated that it was the duty of the state to ensure that the medical establishment educate students and health care providers about transgender sensitivity, support training providers on medically appropriate treatment for transgender people.

Ms. Gandhi said the SCW would take on the responsibility of pursuing their demands with the government and urge various departments to implement policies that would ensure the rights of the transgenders.

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