Effects of COVID-19 on Livelihood, Health, and Psychology of Hijra Population: Insights from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh has left hijra individuals at an increased risk of poverty and food insecurity due to the economic crisis. COVID-19 challenges the fundamental foundation of the public health system, and now the hijra group is out of the system because of stigma and discrimination. This article features three focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted by 23 respondents about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following research aimed to understand the health, mental stress, and social and economic effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the lives of deprived and marginalized hijra people in Bangladesh. The results reflect the effect of COVID-19 in terms of social, health care, and mental health problems on the hijra community in Bangladesh. In the aftermath of the pandemic, their disadvantaged and socially excluded status makes the hijra population more vulnerable to being affected by the virus and facing its economic and social impacts. The conclusion presents that hijra people are assumed to suffer under the severity of the pandemic even more than the general population due to the intersections between their status as a vulnerable social group and their high level of medical risk factors.

Strategic assessment of mental health and suicide amid COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has affected the mental health of our society in Bangladesh as a thorough assessment of mental health is salient during this pandemic crisis. The study seeks to ensure that their unheard voices are reached to both national and international academic discourse, which has so far been uninhabited. It adopted qualitative interpretative methods of social research through content analysis. The study found that the pandemic did not affect all groups of society uniformly, rather the intensity of its impact varied depending on factors such as economic status and family institutions. The lower socioeconomic class is the worst affected as the pandemic made them unemployed, leading them to an uncertain future. Despite such variations, the general population has experienced a subsequent increase in workload, and challenges in using routine health facilities that increased behavioural changes, higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression and suicides.