Establishment of safe shelters for transgender people in all districts under consideration
“Snehakoodu”, (Nest of Love) a short-stay home for transwomen, will start functioning under the control of the Social Justice Department at Iringadanpalli in Kozhikode city on December 14. Health Minister K.K. Shylaja will open the facility, which is the first of such unit in North Kerala.
Punarjani Cultural Society, a city-based non-governmental organisation, will manage the home and take care of the needs of the guests. The service including food and accommodation will be given free of cost to them. Priority will be given to those who have undergone sex reassignment surgery or are preparing for the same. Social Justice Department officials said similar short-stay homes with the required safety arrangements were under consideration in all districts. The selected NGOs would be given the needed financial assistance to meet the daily expenses and provide counselling support to the needy ones, they said.
There will be a full time manager, two caretakers and a cook and a counsellor at the short-stay home, which was realised under the State Government’s Rainbow project for the rehabilitation of transgender people. Security guards too would be posted to ensure a safe stay for the members. A person can stay up to three months. Re-admission will be considered only after reviewing the rehabilitation needs of the applicants concerned. As per the general rule, it would be allotted to a person for one month. “The short-stay home becomes a reality here after long years of wait and interaction with Government functionaries. Henceforth, no community members will have to beg for the mercy of hotel or lodge owners for their stay,” says Cicily George, transgender activist and a member of the District Transgender Justice Board.
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