The first day of the Mental Health Workshop titled ‘Trauma,Relationship, Sexuality’ began with an introductory speech from Ibu AyuSaptaningtyas - Consul for Social and Cultural Affairs at the IndonesianConsulate General in Hong Kong, who underlined the importance of discussingtopics that are still considered taboo and rarely talked about in theIndonesian community, especially in relation to the holistic health of eachindividual.

‘Does gender and sexual identity matter to you?’ was theinitial question posed by the guest speaker, Dr. Sonia Wong - lecturer at TheChinese University of Hong Kong's for Gender Studies Programme. Workshopparticipants were encouraged to think about how gender and sexual identity areimportant parts of our identities, social experiences and social roles.

"Genderbread person", one of the illustrationsdiscussed, illustrates how "sex ≠ gender identity ≠ social roles ≠ genderexpression ≠ sexual orientation".  

Dr Sonia Wong further explained that gender and sexualidentity choices are often still limited by culture, religion, social norms,etc., resulting in discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping and stigmatizationagainst sexual minority groups. As a result, sexual minority groups are morevulnerable to experiencing mental health problems such as low self-confidence,depression and anxiety, eating and sleeping disorders.

At the end of the session, Dr Sonia Wong invited allparticipants, in accordance with their respective capacities, to create safeand diverse spaces, and make interactions in every relationship an inclusiveand empowering experience.

Description courtesy of Peduli Kasih HK

The event took place on the first floorof theHousing in Place Community Space and was organized by Peduli Kasih HK.