Currently there are no training modules with a specific focus on MSM, transgender and hijra communities, for organisations to use in their work responding to the needs of these groups which are made vulnerable by stigma.
That’s why Alliance India arranged for around 50 experts, from community experts to researchers, to meet in New Delhi over two days (12 -13 Jan) to share experiences and design the resources. The workshop was organised as part of a prevention project supported by UNDP India, called Sashakt, meaning ‘empowerment’.
The project will develop new CBOs and strengthen existing ones, so that they can provide community specific services with the aim of boosting the confidence and visibility of MSM, transgender, and hijra communities. It is expected that the strategies implemented at community level can also have an impact within national and state level programmes.
The areas covered by the training modules are:
- Identity, family support and mental health
This will cover identities in a broader sense and examine social conditioning, different types of families, sexual orientation, gender expression, issues of guilt, anxieties, substance misuse and shame.
- Addressing issues of female partners of MSM
This includes exploring gender roles, and the problems of disclosure.
- Violence and trauma
This will help facilitators to recognise the various forms of violence and trauma, and the legal and non-legal recourses available
- Positive living
This will highlight ideas for positive living and integration of MSM, transgender and hijra communities.
The project is implemented in partnership with The Humsafar Trust, SAATHII, SIAAP and INFI.
The project will develop new CBOs and strengthen existing ones 