Jaimie Veale researches transgender health in the psychology department at the University of Waikato.

A Waikato University lecturer has been awarded $238,000 to uncover the extent that transgender people experience stigma, discrimination, violence and barriers to healthcare in New Zealand.

University psychology lecturer Dr Jaimie Veale has been awarded Health Research Council funding to complete the survey.

Her project will also explore the extent to which affirming healthcare and social support – including family/whanau, transgender community, and wider community support – buffer them from the stigma and related negative experiences.

The project will include a transgender community advisory group and researchers will work closely with health professionals who work with transgender people in New Zealand.

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Overseas research has uncovered notable health inequalities faced by transgender people, but little research has been conducted in New Zealand, Veale said.

Veale, who herself is transgender, says the goal is to get a comprehensive overview of how transgender people's emotional and physical health.

"People are starting to talk about the overall well-being of transgender people and what the costs are of not covering healthcare.

"I do know a lot of people can be struggling - not all of us, some of us are really successful - but a lot of us are coming up against difficulties related to being able to access healthcare and experiences of stigma and discrimination and challenges with mental health and other health topics as well."

Veale completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, researching sexually active transgender youth.

She used data from the 2014 Canadian Transgender Youth Health Survey, focusing on a subset of 540 youth aged 14-25.

They found that 5 per cent (26) had been involved in a pregnancy at least once – comparable to British Columbia's pregnancy rate of about 5 per cent among sexually active young people.

Veale said it's often assumed that trans youth don't get pregnant or get someone pregnant, perhaps because they're receiving hormones that tend to reduce fertility, or because people assume they aren't sexually active, but this study shows otherwise.