The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has launched a first-of-its-kind campaign highlighting the rights of trans children ahead of the ‘International Transgender Day of Visibility’ on March 31. “Unbox Me”, launched on Monday, along with a two minute and 10 seconds film on the issue, is a “creative exploration” of the theme of secrecy — and hiding — that most such children go through but one “that transgender children go through in a phychologically debilitating way, it said in a statement. “… These hidden possessions reveal a lot about the child who he/she is, what he/she likes and what his/her dreams are. Trans children are no different. But for them, this act of hiding treasures becomes a way of hiding their identity from disapproving eyes.
“Now, influential Indian and international personalities are revealing these hidden childhood treasures of transgender people on social media, in an effort to symbolically unbox their secret to the world and open the conversation for so many transgender children out there,” UNAIDS said explaining the campaign. March 31 celebrates transgender people and raises awareness of discrimination faced by the community worldwide.
According to a study by the Indian Journal for Psychological Medicine, 31 per cent of transgender people in India end their life by committing suicide, and 50 per cent of them have attempted suicide at least once before their 20th birthday. The UNAIDS initiative will travel to schools across India spreading the message to teachers, students and parents.
“Gender diversity is not just an issue for adults but for all ages including children. Children feel distressed when their gender identity differs from the sex they were given at birth as what they experience clashes with their own reality. This impacts children’s growth negatively. “The UNAIDS initiative — both the film and the Unbox Me project — is a first-of-its-kind, bringing to the fore an issue sensitively and impactfully that most are afraid to highlight,” Mahesh Mahalingam, director (Communications and Global Advocacy) at UNAIDS, said.
UNAIDS had released “See-me-as-I-am”, a short film on promoting inclusion and acceptance of young LBGTIQ children, last year.
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