LAHORE: A grim situation has been revealed through numbers in a baseline study on the bullying of sexual and gender minorities launched on Wednesday, in which statistics were based on the response of 101 people.

The study titled ‘Bullying of Sexual and Gender Minorities’, by a non-government organisation, encompasses all those who fall under the umbrella of LGBT community. The study was conducted on men and women, who are residents of Mansehra, Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore, and 101 respondents gave answers to the basic questions.

It was found that out of 101, around 97 respondents faced some kind of social bullying. Only 41 respondents said they had heard of the Ministry of Human Rights. Seven, of these 41, said they were comfortable speaking to the government about the bullying they faced regarding their gender related issues, while 34 said they are not comfortable about it.

Most disturbing was the finding that the bullying mostly came from family, especially male members such as brothers. This included verbal and physical bullying both. The next on the list of bullies was extended family or relatives such as uncles, followed by teachers, class mates and community (neighbours, police etc), and for those who are involved in sex work, customers and clients. Of 97, 69 faced physical bullying, 91 out of 101 faced sexual bullying and 88 of 91 have faced physical and sexual bullying and harassment both.

UP to 47 respondents said they got an equal opportunity to study, and 75 others said they faced serious psychological issues.

Eleven were deprived of property rights usually transgenders.

The age bracket for the survey was from 16 years to 53 years.

Most of the respondents faced the issue of facing several problems yet not being able to talk to anyone about.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2019