Kathmandu, April 4
Sixteen NGOs working for sexual and reproductive rights of the people including the right to relationship and marriage with the person they desire have urged the Nepal government to be sensitive to concerns of sexual minority groups in the ongoing crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement on Friday, the organisations said the governments at federal, provincial and local levels should ensure that quarantine sites established in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak are friendly to gender and sexual minority groups. They also demanded that everyone, irrespective of their gender identity and sexual orientation, is protected from any kind of abuse and harassment during the crisis.
Fearing that members of such minorities group might be subjected to stigmatisation more severely during the hard times, the organisations suggested that the government should provide needful counselling services to avoid such problems.
The organisations issuing the statement include Right Here Right Now, Association of Youth NGOs in Nepal (AYON), Blue Diamond Society, Family Planning Association of Nepal, Federation of Sexual and Gender Minorities in Nepal, and Yuwalaya, among others.
