Issue
LGBTQI communities and sex workers in Shimoga District in the State of Karnataka face challenges accessing healthcare due to identity-based stigma and discrimination despite efforts to strengthen these vulnerable communities.
Project partners



How we are helping
The project will strengthen the capacities of marginalised and vulnerable communities at the grassroots levels, including LGBTQI communities and sex workers, to advocate for improved access to healthcare services and enhanced inclusion in healthcare policies and processes.
About the project
LGBTQI communities and sex workers in South India face multiple barriers accessing healthcare services including identity-based stigma, discrimination and ignorance surrounding their unique healthcare needs. Health outcomes are worsened by social determinants—lack of societal and familial acceptance, precarious livelihood conditions and compromised educational status—exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Measures for social inclusion of transgender individuals are outlined in Karnataka’s State Transgender Policy in 2017 and further reinforced in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019.
Project partner Best Practices Foundation has identified a decline in the overall wellbeing of these communities in Karnataka since the Covid-19 pandemic. A needs assessment on sexual and reproductive health has highlighted the extent and nature of barriers experienced in accessing healthcare services due to underlying stigma, including denial of abortion services, lack of access to gender-affirmative processes, lack of affordable and non-judgmental mental health services.
In this project Best Practices Foundation will build on the outcomes of these recent initiatives; working with three partners to contribute to improving health service delivery and enhancing access to comprehensive healthcare for LGBTQI communities and sex workers in Shimoga district. The project will also contribute to strengthening government responses to the Covid-19 health pandemic at the local level and complement implementation of Karnataka’s State Transgender Policy.
This will be achieved through:
1) Capacity building and community district committee creation
- Training 60 people (30 sex worker and 30 LGBTQI community members) on healthcare, patient rights and accountability within the public healthcare system
- Forming a district committee within Shimoga district (comprising four women sex workers and four LGBTQI community members)
- Conducting intensive training on community health, leadership and advocacy with eight members of the district committee for three days
2) Partnership and accountability building
- Facilitating a consultation meeting with 60 community members conducted by the district committee members on health issues, patient violations/grievances, entitlements, advocacy ideas, visiting the primary community health centres
- Conducting four sensitisation sessions with staff at the primary community health centres and local health department
- Designing an advocacy campaign calling for higher accountability within the healthcare system for community health needs
3) Resource and evidence generation
- Producing six audio-visual resources on various topics related to community health produced for knowledge building of community members
- Disseminating the findings of situational analysis with the primary community health centres, health department and other civil society organisations
Improved knowledge and attitude about healthcare services among sex worker and LGBTQI communities in Shimoga district is expected as a result of this project, enabling a greater sense of agency and confidence to access these services and increased grassroots advocacy surrounding the inequities faced. District committee advocacy efforts are expected to result in improved accountability and responsiveness of the healthcare system towards the needs of sex worker and LGBTQI communities in Shimoga district.
Project Partners
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