Bangladesh Canada Hong Kong India Thailand
LGBTIQ Inclusion in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong
The full inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in society is crucial to achieving the goal of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind. Sexual and gender minorities are a diverse group, but experience in common many forms of stigma, discrimination, social exclusion, and violence because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics.
MFARR-Asia is developing and collecting evidence on the inclusion and human rights of sexual and gender minority populations through partnerships in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong SAR. We build on the World Bank/UNDP LGBTI Inclusion Index to examine LGBTIQ+ inclusion in the following domains: political and civic participation, education, family, economic well-being, health, and personal security and violence. MFARR-Asia is conducting scoping reviews of the scholarly and grey literature in each country. Based on the evidence, we are developing benchmarks to understand the current state of inclusion of LGBTIQ+ populations in each country/region; to identify gaps in programs and policies; and to mobilize evidence to accelerate progress moving forward.
Funders: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant; Canada Foundation for Innovation; University of Toronto
PROJECT PARTNERS
A Scoping Review of LGBT + Inclusion in Thailand: Policy Proposals and Recommendations
Impacts of COVID-19 on Transgender People in India
Impacts of COVID-19 on Transgender People in India (2)
LGBT+ inclusion and human rights in Thailand
3Qs at the U Ep. 6 with Science Sam and Peter Newman
Despite high HIV prevalence among transgender women (TGW) in India, there is limited exploration of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) acceptability. With PrEP licensure pending, we conducted six focus group discussions (FGDs) with diverse TGW (n =&th...
How to Have Sex in an Epidemic Redux: Reinforcing HIV Prevention in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Parvah is a short film on the lives of lesbian, bisexual, and trans-masculine persons highlighting their challenges during the pandemic. Produced by Project Samajh, a unique initiative of The Humsafar Trust and UNAIDS.
Project Samajh has created a social media campaign addressing the specific knowledge needs of the LGBTQ+ community. The objective of this campaign is to make the community aware about the risks of COVID-19 along with HIV, STIs, OIs, other comorbid conditions and mental health problems. The campaign also seeks to inform and empower community members with various support and coping mechanisms. It is our belief that raising awareness a...
Sexual Minorities in the Face of the COVID-19 Storm
A qualitative study of multiple barriers to HIV testing among young sexual and gender minority populations in Thailand.
To cite: Fongkaew, K., de Lind van Wijngaarden, J. W., Tepjan, S., Chonwanarat, N., Akkakanjanasupar, P., & Newman, P. A. (2021). ‘No test, no disease’: Multilevel barriers to HIV testing among young men who have sex with men and young transgender women in three <...
Sexual Health among Older Gay Men & Transgender Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Workshop: Understanding and Providing Quality Care for Sexual and Gender Minorities (LGBTQ+ People)