
#HumanRightsWeek presents us with an opportunity to share how we have been working alongside our country partners and trans focal points in the region to support the transgender and gender non conforming community and closely monitor the evolving situation presented by COVID-19. Over the next week we present our findings from our work over the last ten months which demonstrate an urgent need to guarantee the inclusion of transgender and gender non conforming people in efforts to #RecoverBetter from COVID-19 and more broadly. We call on the governments, our development and non development partners and the public, to #StandupforHumanRights and fulfill the promise of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs to ensure no one is left behind.
This year was like no other, on the 11th of March 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. At APTN we knew that this would have wide ranging impacts on the lives of people in the trans and gender diverse community and the critical work in supporting trans folx across Asia and the Pacific region.
As our findings will demonstrate, the COVID-19 pandemic has starkly revealed the vast social, economic and health disparities experienced by trans and gender diverse communities even further. Now more than ever an urgent shift is required to invest in trans and gender diverse populations. It is long overdue for governments and public institutions to recognise and prioritize the experiences and needs of those on the margins of society to ensure all under their duty of care have access to quality and stigma free social protection and healthcare systems and infrastructure.
The Time Is Now
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Human Rights Week – Social Media Tool Kit
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Day 2

Day 3

“Aside from access to healthcare, a major blow to this community has been financial – with lockdown measures in place, transgender people have been unable to meet their financial needs without placing themselves at risk – either of contracting the disease or of brutal treatment from the police who have enforcing the lockdown rules. HOPE Pakistan
Day 4

“Transwomen are not a priority for support in the COVID-19 pandemic. The government of the Republic of Indonesia generally prioritizes citizens who are registered as poor families in Indonesia. Transwomen, most of them are not registered as poor families because they do not have identity cards as citizens. GWL- Ina, Indonesia – https://www.facebook.com/GWL.INA
Stay Tuned for APTN’s Full Trans Resilience Report: Stories of Hope, Pain, and Survival from the Trans Movement During the #COVID19 #Pandemic, which will be released on 10 December 2020.
weareAPTN #StandingUpForTransRights #HumanRightsWeek #HumanRights2020 #HumanRightsWeek2020 #RecoverBetter #WorldAIDSDay2020 #GlobalSolidaritySharedResponsibility #AsiaPacific
Day 5

“The national government put out a lockdown law without specifying rules, specifications are left to the local government who have created their own punitive measures. One trans woman who was caught violating curfew had their head shaved. Also, a Filipino politician tried to force LGBT+ people to kiss and ‘sexy dance’ as punishment for breaching coronavirus lockdown.” LakanBini, Philippines
Day 6

“The organisation and some staff/volunteers have received threats and people have even attempted to stop us from providing our relief support because bigotry has increased during this time.” Blue Diamond Society, Nepal
Day 7

“The suicide rate is increasing during lockdown. Many of them are facing violence from within the home. Due to this 7-month lockdown, 13 LGBTI people committed suicide among them 2 were lesbian and 2 were transgender man.” Unity 4 Change, Nepal
Day 8

“There is a current bill that contains articles that will violate the rights of women, religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, as well as freedom of speech and association. At this time of COVID-19, parliamentarians are secretly pushing for this bill to be discussed and approved given that demonstrations and/or rallies are not allowed.” GWL-INA, Indonesia
You can now download the APTN’s Full Trans Resilience Report: Stories of Hope, Pain, and Survival from the Trans Movement During the #COVID19 #Pandemic.
Download the Transgender Resilience Report