AIDS killing hundreds of eunuchs: activists

February 12, 2004

11-February-2004

Mumbai, The huge community of eunuchs in Mumbai is a worried lot:

scores of them are falling victim to AIDS. Leaders of the hijras, or

eunuchs, say that some 250 of them have already died in Mumbai in the

last six years and the figure could be as high as 4,000 in the rest

of the country.

Shabnam Guru of the Dai Welfare Society said many of the HIV victims

quietly went back to their villages in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to

die.

" Nearly 72 percent of the 3,000-odd hijra community that has been

tested in Mumbai in the last four years is HIV positive, " said Vivek

Anand, chief executive officer of Humsafar Trust, which works with

gays and lesbians

On Monday, eunuchs took to the streets here to highlight their

problems, HIV and AIDS being just one of them.

Carrying placards demanding equal rights, the rally attracted a great

deal of attention at the Bandra railway station in northwest Mumbai

where the marchers congregated.

Activists view the high prevalence of HIV in the community as a

consequence of the prejudices eunuchs face.

Once hit by the disease, a majority of them take to begging and

prostitution, which in turn makes them more vulnerable to HIV

infection.

" What is the alternative? How can they survive? Leave alone rights,

the eunuchs are not even allowed to travel in the women's compartment

of local trains, " said Anand.

" In the men's compartment, they are harassed and ridiculed, " he

added.

Some years ago, he said, eunuchs carrying condoms meant for

distribution among fellow eunuchs were arrested, stripped and

humiliated, he said.

Shabnam Guru said the eunuchs had approached the railway police,

seeking an end to the harassment. But the problem still continued.

Indo-Asian News Service

Recommended Posts