Medical needs unmet for many in transgender community

The high medical demands of transgender people in China are far from satisfied, a survey compiled jointly by the Beijing LGBT Center and Sociology Department at Peking University shows.

The Chinese Transgender Population General Survey Report, released on Monday, indicates that transgender people are in great need of medical services, such as hormone therapy (62 percent) and sex reassignment surgery (51 percent), which are not fully satisfied.

Only 6 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with the current domestic situation for provision of and access to hormone therapy. And 2 percent thought that there were enough medical resources for sex reassignment surgeries.

"The medical resources are now far from adequate," said Kelly Kiseki, the transgender program manager at the Beijing LGBT Center.

The transgender group is facing high rates of self-harm and suicide: 46.2 percent have considered suicide, with 12.7 percent ultimately attempting to do so, according to the report.

It also shows that 44.5 percent of respondents have thought about self-mutilation as a result of being transgender and 21.2 percent have exhibited some level of self-mutilating behavior.

Transgender individuals also experience persistent neglect, verbal abuse, physical beatings and other forms of violence from their birth family, at school and work, and in public spaces, according to the report.