Stigma And Discrimination In The Transgender Community Essay

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The number of HIV patients have dropped over the last decade, annual reduction of 100,000 new infections in 2005. However there still is more than 5,000 people that become infected with HIV each day and more than 3,200 people die every day from HIV-related illnesses. Only a third of the people infected with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy which is leaving 23 million in need of treatment. People whom are sex workers are 12 times likely to be infected with HIV, whereas men who have sex with men (MSM) are 19 times more likely and injection drug users are 28 more times likely to become infected with HIV than the general public. These 3 groups of people continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV. Prisoners are a high-risk environment …show more content…
This level of stigma and discrimination prevents them from receiving help that others can. This can force them into sex work in order to make money and thus putting them at a higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases and lower the self-esteem which can lead to less inclination to protect their own health. The transgender community is heavily blamed for HIV, they are also more likely to be abuse and mistreated and are often turned away when they seek medical care. Not only are they turned away from medical care they are also turned down for jobs, housing. Social marginalization and a lack of employment opportunities, sex work is the only income available to most transgender people. Everyone should have the right to live with a full life with dignity. This is where society once again punishes someone for their choice of how they want to live their life, where as they (society) would not want someone telling them how to live their life. Another way that this group can be at risk of HIV is through injecting substances for gender enhancement. It is common in some settings for transgender people to obtain injectable hormones, the most common form of gender enhancement, and carry out the injecting themselves. Without counselling on safe injecting practices, people going through this process may be very vulnerable to HIV transmission. Also, being that a lot of

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