Suicidal ideation and self-harm in transgender youth; role of social exclusion

Abstract

Introduction: Transgender community across the world is extremely vulnerable for abuse, discrimination and violence. This vulnerability leads the transgender community towards suicidal ideation and self-harm. This paper attempts to study the phenomenon of social exclusion and how it relates to suicidal ideation and self-harm amongst the transgender youth living and working in a society.

Material & Methods: The study adopted qualitative approach using document analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion. Interviews and focus group discussion were held with twenty-six respondents selected through snowball sampling technique.

Results: The results indicated that transgender community was prone to suicidal ideation and self-harm tendencies. Loneliness, gender identity crises, police behavior and bad attitude of gurus were some of the contributing factors to suicidal ideation in the studied group of transgenders.

Conclusion: The biggest reason among transgender for suicidal ideation is their gender identity having the concept of 'incomplete life'. The ambiguous gender identity of studied transgender has more suicidal ideation in them than their normal counterparts. The behavior of their families and unsuccessful relationships are the strong predictors of self-harm in them.