Access to gender-affirming and general healthcare for transgender people in the Republic of Belarus
- Authors: Kirey-Sitnikova Y.1, Kumets A.2
- Affiliations:
- Uppsala University
- T*Belarus
- Issue: Vol 28, No 4 (2024)
- Section: Общественное здоровье и организация здравоохранения
- URL: http://bulleten-nriph.ru/journal/article/view/2807
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.25742/NRIPH.2024.04.011
- Cite item
Abstract
Background.Feedback from patients is an important source of information for improving healthcare. This study aims to investigate accessibility of gender-affirming and general healthcare for transgender people in the Republic of Belarus. Materials and methods. Thematic analysis of 16 oral interviews using the socio-ecological model. Results. Social factors complicating access to gender-affirming healthcare include: the lack of legal possibility to initiate hormone therapy before changing the gender marker; inaccessibility of medical transition for individuals under 18; psychopathologization of transgenderism; inability to change the identification number, which encodes gender; inability to enter marriage for individuals with the same legal gender. Institutional factors: centralization of gender-affirming healthcare in Minsk, which leads to geographic barriers and the system's instability; the need to pay for hormonal drugs out of pocket; long evaluation time and unpredictability; unnecessary evaluations; low quality of surgeries; the lack of connection between specialists; the lack of gender-neutral toilets; sex-based separation of specialists (gynecologist/urologist). Interpersonal factors: misgendering and deadnaming; the lack of properly defined diagnostic criteria; gender stereotypes of specialists; denial of service; breach of confidentiality. Intrapersonal factors: low awareness; psychophobia; the lack of self-confidence; concerns about the reactions of people around.
About the authors
Yana Kirey-Sitnikova
Uppsala University
Author for correspondence.
Email: yana.kirey.sitnikova@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9603-5114
Sweden, Uppsala, Sweden
Alisa Kumets
T*Belarus
Email: alisa.kumets@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0009-6014-9134
Belarus, Minsk, Republic of Belarus
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