Volunteers operating a southern Indian city’s fist dedicated helpline for lesbians say they are overwhelmed by men calling in to ask how women can be attracted by other women.
More than 80 percent of the calls received by Chennai city's first helpline for lesbians are from men, reports The Times of India. The helpline is run by Indian Community Welfare Organisation, an NGO, and is staffed by lesbian volunteers.
Typically, some men call to say they have a sister or wife who is attracted to women while others “ask questions like how women are attracted to other women and how it is to be in a relationship,” Aksam, who volunteers for the helpline, told the English language daily. Others even ask for contact numbers of lesbians, she added.
It is more difficult to deal with male callers than understanding her attraction to women, she pointed out.
The helpline is obviously meant for women who are trying to understand their own attraction to other women and who are yet to come to grips with their feelings and emotions in a highly conservative patriarchal society that mistreats women and were topics regarding sexual issues pertaining to women are considered taboo.
Aksam recalled her own experience of alienation when at school she felt attracted to other girls while others were attracted to boys. Afraid to ask, she typed 'girl attracted to girl' on the internet and found that she was not alone. Later, she found support in the Indian Community Welfare Organisation.
However, others are not so lucky. Many are forced to marry men and others who want to find a way out of such mock marriages.
"There have been calls where women reveal suicidal thoughts because they were forced into marriage. College students too call us saying they are feeling too possessive about their girlfriends and would want to know if it is normal,” Uma, a councilor with the helpline told The Times of India.
“Of course, many calls are from men, who ask if they can join us in manning the helpline," she added.
Dr Vasantha Jeyaraman, a psychiatrist working in the city was quoted as saying: "Some men would get pleasure out of making such calls (while) some heterosexuals would want to ridicule the women… Only irresponsible men would make such calls."
A.J. Hariharan, the Indian Community Welfare Organisation’s secretary said the NGO launched the helpline in 2009 following the suicide of a lesbian couple in Chennai city.
Presently, the helpline functions only during weekends and receives about 25 calls a day.
Social workers say lesbians are just slightly better off in India’s overcrowded cities where they have a better chance of anonymity but that in rural India they are open to vicious brutality including rape by husbands, brothers and fathers in a bid to “cure them.”
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'Gay' includes 'lesbian' usually. Why can't these help line charities be combined for cost benefits? Or are there political reasons?
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