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Sahodaran

An overview

Introduction
Sahodaran, established in 1998, is the first Community Based
Organization in Chennai run by and for the MSM community. Sahodaran
works with MSM from low-income backgrounds that are at high risk for
HIV/AIDS, combining HIV/AIDS prevention and careservices with social
support, counseling, and crisis intervention. In addition to safeguarding
their health Sahodaran empowers MSM/TG community members to
become leaders in their own right, paving the way for greater social
recognition for sexual minorities nationwide. Although focused
primarily on MSM, since 2010, Sahodaran has fostered CBOs catering
to the needs of TGs (transgender women), and begun to serve as a
referral point for LGBT community members more broadly. We envision
a world where sexual minorities can access safe sexual health services,
legal support and social entitlements, and where atrocities against
sexual minorities are eliminated.

Our Approach
Sahodaransactivities are designed to address three core stages
of social change: empowering the individual, transforming social
attitudes, and fostering leaders from the MSM/TG community.

EMPOWER THE INDIVIDUAL


As a well-established center of community socialization with
multiple branches across the city, Sahodaranis often the first port of
call for young, low-income MSM (kothisin Tamil) and TGs in need of
psychosocial or healthcare support. We tailor our support services for
every MSM/TG/kothi based on their unique situation, offering a
combination of sexual health services, psychosocial support and
livelihood options.

Targeted Interventions (TI)


Through our TI and Pehchan TI+ program, run with the
support of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, Sahodaran
offers a complete package of HIV/AIDS prevention and care
services. Thanks to our advocacy with both government and
private healthcare providers over the past 17 years, we offer
community members more respectful and supportive sexual
health services than if they were to approach hospitals directly.
Our services include:
Identifying and reaching out to community members at
hot spots frequented by MSM for cruising and sex work;
Distributing condoms, lube, and educating them about
safer sex both individually and in groups;
Providing access to confidential STD testing services,
alongwith preliminary diagnoses;
Introducing them to community-friendly counselors for pre-
test and post-test counseling;
Referring them to community-friendly healthcare providers
for treatment and care (for HIV/AIDS and other STDs);
Linking HIV positive individuals with ART dispensaries;
Educating them about ART adherence, monitoring, and
nutrition.
In addition to HIV/AIDS prevention and care, we conduct an
annual health camp at Sahodaran Unit I and II to provide
free eye, dental and sugar checkups for community
members.

Our successes:
Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society honored Sahodaran in
2010 by awarding us a new project in North Chennai:
Sahodaran Unit II. Recognizing our success in Central and
South Chennai, TNSACS exhorted us to empower and mobilize
MSM and TGs in impoverished areas of North Chennai.We
were also asked to conduct counselors orientation and
experience sharing for other NGOs implementing TIs for MSM.
The Family Planning Association of India awarded us the Best
Grassroots Level Award in 2014
We received a Solidarity award from the South India AIDS
Action Programme for our work with Pehchan TI project in
2011
We received National AIDS Control Organizations Red Ribbon
Express Cultural Troupe Award in 2010 for our dance and
theatre-based advocacy.
The Royal Netherlands honored us for Best Street Theatre in
2006.
We were recipients of Best Civil Society Award from UNAIDS
in 2006.

Scale:
In an average month we are approached by approximately 300
kothis that learn about our office through our outreach workers
or through word of mouth. In 2014, between Sahodaran Unit I
and II, we reached over 90,000 MSM through our peer
educators and outreach workers. Approximately 10% of these
members sought HIV/STI testing and services.

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The need for funding
Our HIV/AIDS prevention and care services are the
backbone of our organization, and have been supported by a
number of established national and international bodies since our
inception.
Between 1998 and 2003, the Department For International
Development (DFID) supported our activities;
USAID through Family Health International supported us
from 2003-2006
The Tamil Nadu state AIDS Prevention and Control
(APAC)from 2006-2008;
Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society from 2008 to the
present.

Since Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control is planning to


withdraw its support for TI projects in 2015, we are at
risk of losing our primary source of support.In order that
this invaluable work with HIV/AIDS prevention and care
continues, it is necessary for us to increasingly draw on private
foundations, corporate donors and income generation efforts for
our sustenance.

Drop In Center
AtSahodaranwe know that isolation, shame and stigma are
some of the biggest obstacles for MSM trying to practice more
health-seeking behaviors. To remedy this situation, as part of our
Targeted Interventions we operate a Drop-In Center six days a
week where community members can come to socialize, seek
help during crises, or participate in ongoing events. Every
afternoon, our office is a riot of colour and laughter as kothis
from across the city drop in for lunch, to seek advice regarding
personal crises, practice for an upcoming dance performance, or
simply rest and watch a movie. Our Drop-In Center owes its
vibrancy to the fact that we are completely managed and
peopled by MSM community members. This makes our office a
safe space where MSM can find relief from the stigma they
encounter in the outside world.

Funded:Our Drop In Center is funded as part of our TI project;


however these funds are coming to a close in October
2015.

Scale: In 2014, our Drop In Center had 800 new visitors, and we
provided counseling to 1584 new clients through our TI services.

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Crisis Support
Sahodaran operates a round-the-clock crisis hotline for members
of sexual minorities, and crises cases are handled within 24
hours. The goal of these interventions is to go beyond HIV/AIDS
related services, to help MSM and other sexual minoritiesfight
the routine violence and discrimination they face from society.
These crises range from housing and landlord trouble, to
discrimination within the family, to educational institutions,
tounlawful police harassment, to workplace discrimination. These
crises are compounded by the fact that, since homosexuality
continues to be criminalized in India, MSM cannotdirectly
approach police. At Sahodaran, we are continually engaged in
crisis management, drawing on our network of community-
friendly lawyers, doctors, police, and counselors to come to the
best possible resolutions.
Funded: 2% of our funds from TI are allocated towards crisis
management.
Numbers:We handled a total of 188 crises cases in 2014. The
majority of these deal with police and public harassment of sex
workers and beggars, as the majority of the community
continues to be engaged in sex work and begging. The remaining
crises focus on conflicts with healthcare providers, family
acceptance issues, relationship-related issues and petty crimes
related to theft, blackmail and extortion experienced by
community members.

Income Generation Programs


To foster economic independence amongst MSM, and to
build our own reserve of unrestricted funds, Sahodaran has
initiated several income generation programs for community
members to make and sell handmade products. These include
hand-sewn sari blouses, handbags and mobile phone covers;
glass paintings; and cultural performances done for a fee. In
addition, the office functions as an informal marketplace where
MSM/TG people can come and sell their products to others within
the community. One of our goals is to build our IGP potential, to
depend less on external funding.

TRANSFORMING SOCIAL ATTITUDES


Sahodaranworks to transform social attitudes, creating a
conducive environment for community members to realize their full
potential. Our sensitization programs educate non-community
members about gender, sexuality, and the diversity of sexual
orientation, through simple presentations and testimonials tailored to

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the needs of each audience. Our modules also emphasize the legal,
health-related, and psychosocial challenges faced by community
members. In addition to tackling individual prejudices, these programs
build public support for LGBT rights and the decriminalization of
homosexuality. Our programs aim to forge community friendly spaces
at every level, from the home and surrounding locality, to advocacy for
and state and national-level policy change.
Funded: Annually we get Rs. 10,000 from TI. We fundraise through
email and direct outreach to donors, ticketed cultural events

IN THE HOME AND THE LOCALITY


Parents and jamath leaders
At the level of the home, we facilitate parental counseling
to help parents accept and support their childrens sexual
orientation. We also counsel MSM on how to better approach
their families, through a family member that is sympathetic to
their cause. Through our sister concern Thozhi, we initiated the
first sensitization program for jamath leaders(respected elders
within the traditional transgender community), to help them
provide better care and support to the kothis under their care.
Received training for various module female partners of MSM &
TG 2012 especially

Police, shopkeepers, auto drivers, and landlords


We work to transform hot spots into community-friendly
spaces by educating and sensitizing locals, such as landlords,
shop owners, police personnel, auto drivers, and rowdies.
Impressed by our success with police advocacy, Tamil Nadu State
AIDS Control Society selected Sahodaran to conduct police
sensitization programs throughout the state of Tamil Nadu. At
several hot spots, local flower-sellers and petty shopkeepers
have agreed to stock free condoms to hand over to community
members. During incidents of violence or harassment, auto
drivers and other local stakeholders can act as witnesses or
sources of support, rather than remain silent bystanders. In
2014, through Sahodaran Unit I and II, we conducted 11
sensitization programs with local stakeholders, reaching a total of
340 persons.

STATE AND NATIONAL-LEVEL AWARENESS


Students, researchers, and educational institutions
Sahodaran is continually engaged in efforts to educate and
sensitize school and college students, since they represent the
leaders of the future. We establish contact with educational
institutions by directly approaching faculty members, by hosting

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student researchers and interns, and by leveraging the family,
friends, and partners of MSM/TG community members. Our
student sensitization workshops range from small informal
meetings of 15-20 students within our office, to large-scale
gender and sexuality programs targeting 500 students at a time.
We also invite student volunteers to participate in our dance and
theatre programs; in return, several schools and colleges in our
network have invited MSM/TG community members to be chief
guests, and honored them with special achievement awards. We
have also hosted volunteers and researchers from other
countries, including the United States, Uganda, Nigeria and
Japan.

Political leaders, religious groups


Sahodaran maintains ongoing linkages with influential
political and social figures such as community-friendly
celebrities, young politicians, progressive media outlets, and
religious leaders. Mr. Tiruchy Siva, author of the recent
Transgender Rights Bill passed unanimously in the RajyaSabha
(upper house of Parliament) in 2015, consulted representatives
of Sahodaran and its sister concerns in drafting the provisions.
Sahodaran also conducted two sensitization programs last year
for young politicians and councilors, identifying community-
friendly leaders in key areas of the city. Sahodaran has been a
member of Community Advisory Board at Tamil Nadu Social
Welfare Board, since 2008. In the past year, Sahodarans sister
concern Thozhi played an instrumental role in revitalizing the
currently stagnant Transgender Welfare Board in Tamil Nadu,
pressuring the government to grant homes for 260 transgender
women that were previously homeless. Sahodaran also works
closely with religious groups and leaders, sensitizing them about
community issues and concerns, and honoring them at events.
We have built links with groups traditionally considered to be
opposed to sexual rights, such as the Hindu Munnani and Vishwa
Hindu Parishad, as well as with interfaith groups. We draw on
these community-friendly leaders for events and individual
counseling, to promote better acceptance of MSM within their
families and in the society. On average we hold 2 sensitization
meetings a year with political leaders, and 4-5 with religious
leaders.

Media advocacy
Sahodaran, together with its sister CBO Thozhi, has also
played a key role in shaping media coverage of MSM/TG
community members, by honoring community-friendly
celebrities, and organizing public protests against transphobic

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and homophobic portrayals in cinema. Members of Sahodarans
cultural troupe have performed on established television
channels including Doordarshan, Pothigai, PuthiyaThalaimurai
and PuthuYugam. Community members from Sahodaran have
participated in talk shows and panels debating various policy
shifts regarding sexual and gender minorities.Thozhi also
pioneered the first large-scale protest about the portrayal of
transgender women in Tamil cinema, in 2015.

Advocacy for decriminalization of homosexuality


As a key member of the Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition
since 2008, Sahodaran partners with fifteen other CBOs and
NGOs across the state to organize large-scale events advocating
for sexuality rights and the decriminalization of homosexuality.
The most visible of these is the annual Pride Month in Chennai
which takes place during June of every year. Sahodaran
facilitates the events of Pride Month by mobilizing community
members and students to participate, leveraging contacts to
mobilize funds, and offering the Drop In Center as a space for
planning meetings and poster making.

Research
Sahodaran has become a key nodal point for MSM-based
research conducted in Tamil Nadu, thanks to its success in
mobilizing community members.
Since 2007, we have partnered with the Tuberculosis
Research Center, Chennai and the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR) institute for a research study
about HIV/AIDS prevalence and depression amongst MSM.
We also serve as a member of the Community Advisory
Board at the Tuberculosis Research Centre.
Since our inception we have partnered with the Center for
Sexuality and Health Research Policy (C-SHARP) about
stigma and discrimination faced byHIV-affected MSM.
Other collaborators include YRG Care, Chennai, and
Fenway Institute, Boston.
Sahodaran is also a regular destination for research
students from undergraduate and graduate programs in
India and abroad, that collect data from Sahodarans
community populations, while volunteering for the
organization in return.

Cultural festivals and traditional gatherings


We honor the various cultural backgrounds of our
community members by celebrating all festivals at our Drop In

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Center, including Pongal, Onam, and Diwali. We also honor
special festivals focusing on the transgender community, based
in religious myths and legends sanctioning transgender identity.
We regularly participate at the annual celebrations at the
Koovakkam festival south of Chennai, where we receive small
grants from TNSACS to put on dance and educational theatre
events. Our cultural troupe of dancers and theatre artists
provides a platform for the community to showcase their talents
in addition to helping generate income.

FOSTER COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP


The key to our success thus far has been the fact that we are run
by and for the MSM community. An incubator for community
leadership, Sahodaran has fostered four new CBOs that work with
LGBTs, MSM and TGs. The specific focus of these CBOs is detailed
below:

Thozhi
Thozhi is a CBO run by and for young, dynamic TG
womenbased in South and Central Chennai, aiming to provide
holistic support for members of the TG community, ranging from
sexual health to crisis management, livelihood and social
entitlements. Established in 2010 and registered in 2012, Thozhi
was initially supported entirely by the savings of community
members themselves, with Technical Support from Sahodaran
Unit I.
Since 2014, Thozhi has implemented the Pehchan Pre-TI
project from the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society,
reaching out to mobilize transgender women and educate
them about HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
Thozhi has supported income generation programs
enabling transgender women to make handmade mobile
pouches, handbags and jewellery, and has twice (2013 and
2015) received the Best Stall award from the Womens
Self Help Group Annual Fair held in Chennai.
Thozhi has actively advocated for the Tamil Nadu State
Government to revitalize the stagnant Transgender Welfare
Board and implement the provisions of the Supreme Court
judgment of 2014 recognizing transgender rights. Thozhis
efforts were rewarded in 2015 when the State Government
finally granted 260 free homes to poor, homeless
transgender women.
Thozhi has also pioneered innovative programs within the
transgender community, including a sensitization program
for jamath leaders (elders within the traditional

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transgender/thirunangai community) about surgery
operations and care and support for their HIV-affected
mentees, a sports meet for transgender women, and a
large-scale public protest criticizing the negative portrayal
of transgender women in Tamil cinema.

Snegithi
Established in 2012 and registered in 2014, Snegithi is run
by and for the TG community in North Chennai, with Technical
Support from Sahodaran Unit II. Working in an extremely
impoverished area, Snegithis efforts have been geared more
towards securing the basic needs of slum-dwelling transgender
women, such as housing and intervention during police crises.
Since February 2015, Snegithi has been actively
advocating with the Ministry of Social Welfare to intervene
in a housing crisis in North Chennai where over 50
transgender women were forcibly evicted from their
residences.
In collaboration with Chennai Rainbow Pride Month,
Snegithi also conducted a large-scale sensitization program
for over 500 college-going youth in North Chennai (June
2015), supported by the U.S. Consulate in Chennai. This
program was aimed at slowly developing in North Chennai
the kind of awareness and sensitization that transgender
women enjoy in more cosmopolitan areas of the city such
as Central Chennai.

ITI (Indian Transgender Initiative)


The India Transgender Initiative is a CBO established in
2012 and registered in 2013, that focuses on creating platforms
for transgender women to sensitize the public about their needs
through dance, theatre and debate. ITI facilitates the inclusion of
transgender womens performances in major television
programs, as well as in annual festivals in Koovakkam, Salem,
Madurai, and Kothattai.

Thozhan
Established in 2012 and registered in 2014,Thozhan is a
nascent initiative for LGBT rights, based in Thirupathur in Vellore
district. Thozhan conducts outreach to LGBT community
members more generally, and focuses on sensitizing poor, rural
area dwellers about sexuality and human rights.

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