Resisting Stigma and Homophobia: Dr. Vijay Kiran's Verdict, Hyderabad Panchayat
Director: Jeevanandhan Rajendran
Duration: 00:05:17; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 3.550; Saturation: 0.149; Lightness: 0.741; Volume: 0.236; Words per Minute: 61.286
Summary: Action Plus, a network of 14 organisations working on HIV/AIDS in India, conducted a series of People’s Panchayats in 2009, which sought to understand people's battles against Stigma and Homophobia through the voices of survivors and resistors. The Panchayats sought to address the devaluation of livelihoods and life systems of entire communities of people who practice alternate sexualities, and the erosion of rights or dignity.
This series of People’s Panchayats was held in five cities in India. The first one was in Bangalore on January 28, 2009, the second in Hyderabad on February 6, 2009, the third in Chennai on March 21, 2009 and the fourth on April 11, 2009 in Pune. The fifth and final one was held in New Delhi on April 24, 2009.
Each of the Panchayats followed a similar structure. The interactive meetings were structured to have affected members from sexual minority communities share their personal experiences of living with stigma and homophobia. These were the deposers. Then the two-member expert panel shared their thoughts and ideas based on their experience in the field. The audience comprising of the general public, NGOs, media, opinion leaders and religious communities made their queries and comments at the end of the deposition. There was a brief audience interaction following which the jury or the panch gave its ‘verdict’.
In this segment, Dr. Vijay Kiran speaks about sex as a basic human need, and asks doctors to end their discrimination towards the queer community. He holds that the queer community needs to educate and sensitise doctors about its needs, in order to avail of better health care.
Hyderabad
I wanted to say a few words to you. The sex in this case is a biological need. Just like we get hunger, this is also a need and it's required. And we're forced to debate about this in society today. Just because of the circumstances we have grown in, we saw only two sexes. We now know about their pains, what do we do. I would say to the doctors that because of this discrimination, we are promoting sexually transmitted diseases. And because of that, the prevalence of HIV will also be more. Someone said here that they got lucky because of getting HIV. An organization was set up and few crores were allotted for this program. We're trying to scan and get these people together. We should utilize this opportunity, there are many home-based sex workers. Many MSMs do not come out in the open. Because of the self-stigma, many of them known to us do not come out. Please don't be afraid of it. You have to sensitize it, no outsiders will come to our rescue.
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. In this segment, Dr. Vijay Kiran speaks about sex as a basic human need, and asks doctors to end their discrimination towards the queer community. He holds that the queer community needs to educate and sensitize doctors about its needs, in order to avail of better health care.
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people's panchayats on resisting stigma and homophobia
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people's panchayats on resisting stigma and homophobia
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stigma
Hyderabad
People's Panchayats on Resisting Stigma and Homophobia; Action Plus - a Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV and AIDS. In this segment, Dr. Vijay Kiran speaks about sex as a basic human need, and asks doctors to end their discrimination towards the queer community. He holds that the queer community needs to educate and sensitize doctors about its needs, in order to avail of better health care.
Who has to do this job, the doctors. It has declined considerably. Ten years back when I went to a person's house, no one came to see him. Two years back a HIV patient died at my place, many people did come. Don't you think there is a change? The change is happening slowly, and it will take time. There's a necessity for you to sensitize the doctors. Tell them that you too require confidentiality when examined. They should not expose you in front of others. Self help is the best help in this matter. You need not change this sexual behavior, but protect yourself. There are condoms, loops and several such aids available for you. Its necessary that you undergo an internal examination. Because you're vulnerable and you establish such doctors for you. By doing things like that we can avoid this stigma on you.
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