The global war against suicide which was initiated by the Global Suicide Prevention Squad has moved a step further in its quest to rid India, and indeed, the rest of the world of suicide by 2025 and 2030 respectively. This time, however, the war was taken to both the transgender and law enforcement communities in India.

Transgender Communities in India

Based on the 2011 Census of India, the transgender population was 487,803. Today, it is thought be nearing the 1 million mark, if not more. According to Wikipedia, a transgender person (often abbreviated to trans person) is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through transitioning, often adopting a different name and set of pronouns in the process. Additionally, they may undergo sex reassignment therapies such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery to more closely align their primary and secondary sex characteristics with their gender identity. Not all transgender people desire these treatments, however, and others may be unable to access them for financial or medical reasons. Those who do desire to medically transition to another sex may identify as transsexual.

Photo: Front Row – Mr. Isaac Agarwal (Middle) with some facilitators, counsellors and advisors during the workshop

In India, transgender people face severe structural discrimination and abuse, including emotional torture and societal neglect. According to Justice KS Radhakrishnan, the transgender community in India is “…extremely vulnerable to harassment, violence and sexual assault in public spaces, at home and in jail, also by the police. Sexual assault, including molestation, rape, forced anal and oral sex, gang rape and stripping is being committed with impunity and there are reliable statistics and materials to support such activities”. Many others were often denied social amenities, including obtaining Drivers License and other social benefits. In some extreme cases, transgender people were ostracized from their communities.

Although the Supreme Court of India declared transgender to be a ‘third gender’ in Indian law in April 2014, the discriminatory culture is still embedded in the society while the systematic deprivations has led many transgender people to become suicidal with rising cases of mental illness among the communities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified stigma, particularly surrounding mental disorders and suicide, as a major impediment to the war against suicide. This means that many people thinking of taking their own life or who have attempted suicide are not seeking help and are therefore not getting the help they need. The prevention of suicide has not been adequately addressed due to a lack of awareness of suicide as a major public health problem and the taboo in many societies to openly discuss it. To date, only a few countries have included suicide prevention among their health priorities and only 38 countries report having a national suicide prevention strategy.

The WHO therefore recommended raising community awareness and breaking down the taboo as a panacea for countries to make progress in preventing suicide.

Photos: A Cross-section of transgender people listening with rapt attention during the workshop in Nahur, Mubai.

The Global Suicide Prevention Squad, in its determination to stop this ugly suicidal trend, recently held a ‘Suicide Prevention’ workshop with the transgender community in association with Karunya Trust at Nahur, Mumbai on 25th Jan 2023. According to the Founder of the Global Suicide Prevention Squad, Mr. Isaac Agarwal, “the suicide rate among this community is between 30% – 51%. By the age of 20 almost all would have attempted suicide at least once”.

The Law Enforcement Connection

Part of the government’s response to the increasing rate of suicide in India is the empowerment of strategic agencies of government to be able to deal effectively with the menace. Apart from the multi-sectoral approach by sectors such as health, education, and social services, law enforcement agencies such as the Police are also critical to, not only responding to incidents of suicides, but also deescalating suicidal red flags and managing post-incident activities, especially with the families and friends of victims and the affected communities. This is why the Global Suicide Prevention Squad extended its activities to personnel of the India Police Force on 28th January 2023, when it organized a training workshop for police officers at Kharkar Alley, Thane West, with many more already scheduled for the coming weeks and months.

A cross-section of Police Officers listening with rapt attention during the training

According to Mr. Isaac Agarwal, “The trauma and stress of responding to crises also contributes to suicide risks within the police force. Our workshops not only train them in providing support to survivors at the scene of a suicide, but also helps the officers in maintaining their own personal well being.”

Photo: Mr. Isaac Agarwal addressing Police Officers during the training program


The GLOBAL SUICIDE PREVENTION SQUAD under ‘Kinging Youth Foundation’, is on a mission to make India suicide-free by 31st December 2025 and the world suicide-free by 31st December 2030.

For more information on how to partner with them, kindly visit ispsquad.com or simply call +91 9820235134, +91 9820785150.