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On the Fringes: Impact of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Hijras Daily Personal, Social and Economic Lives

Institution

BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University

Country

Bangladesh

Localities

Hijra community based in Dhaka

Type of Study

Rapid Mini Research

Methodology

Phone interviews, All informed consent procedures were followed and incentives of flexi-load were given to each respondent as we took up their time for the interviews.

Key Focus of Study

The aim of the following research was to understand the health, social and economic impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) shutdown on the lives of poor and marginalized hijra populations in Bangladesh. With the onset of the lockdown in Bangladesh, the Hijra community are badly affected as are all other daily-wage earner groups in the country. However, their marginalized and socially excluded status makes hijra more vulnerable to becoming infected by the virus as well as facing the economic and social repercussions in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Key Stakeholders

Hijra community. Hijra is an umbrella term used for a community of transgender woman, castrated and intersex people, predominantly in South Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Thus, the hijra people are an archetypical third sex and/or gender and is a subculture of feminine-identified male-bodied person who are attracted towards men.

Sample size

22 members of the hijra community based in Dhaka

Timeframe

Phone interviews took place from March 31 to April 1, 2020.

Funding Institution(s)

CREA

Date data expected

Available

Status

Completed

More information

Please find more information here

More information contact

tasfiyah.jalil@bracu.ac.bd