2012

Discrimination Against Third Gender

In Pakistan Society
Third gender, History, Types, Lifestyle, Income, Lifestyle, Violence, Conclusion.

Presented by: Saima Farooq, Shiza Naeem, Arfa Farooq, SheharBano

Social problems
4/18/2012

Discrimination Against Third Gender

Third gender
The terms third gender and third sex describe individuals who are categorized as neither man nor woman. Several terms are used nationally and internationally to refer to people who do not fall in one of the categories of the established gender identities: male or female. However, the most commonly used terms in English language are transgender, eunuch, transsexual, transvestite and hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodite is a person who may have biological characteristics of both the male and female sexes. In simple words, human beings whose biological sex cannot be classified as clearly male or female are classified as intersexual or hermaphrodites.

History

Among the earliest written records of humanity, there are references to types of people who are not men and not women. They worked as sacred prostitutes or performed ecstatic dance, music and plays, wore masks and had gender characteristics of both women and men. The foundational work of Hindu law explains the biological origins of the three sexes: A male child is produced by a greater quantity of male seed, a female child by the prevalence of the female; if both are equal, a third-sex child or boy and girl twins are produced; if either are weak or deficient in quantity, a failure of conception results.

Types

The third gender can be divided into the following types;

Eunuch is a castrated man; usually one castrated early enough to

have major hormonal consequences. In some translations of ancient texts, individuals identified as eunuchs sometimes included men who were impotent as well as those who were celibate.

Transvestite is somebody who cross-dresses. The term is used

as a synonym for the term "cross-dresser", although it has been stated that "cross-dresser" is the preferred term.

Transsexual is an individual who identifies with a physical sex

that is different from his biological one. In simple words, transsexualism is a desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomic sex, and a strong desire to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex. Many transsexuals have sex reassignment surgery, in which their genitals are modified.

Transgender

is a person who is born with typical male or female anatomies but feels as though he/she has been born into the wrong body. However, unlike transsexuals, a transgender is not plagued with the extreme need or desire to modify body. They may take hormones, but do not have genital sex reassignment surgery. Some live as members of the other sex, while others stake out "third gender" status.

The Pakistani context of Hermaphrodites

In the Indo Pak sub continent, Khawaja saras have been both revered and avoided. While on the one hand their curses and blessings are considered potent, there at the same time there is a desire to steer clear of them in view of their involvement in prostitution.

Lifestyle

In Pakistan, khawaja saras live mostly within their own communities and within their own cultural contexts, leading the most challenging lives characterized by discrimination. Usually, they live in groups of four or five or more with their head. Their hear imparts singing and dancing skills to his students to enable them to earn a living, and all the members are expected to turn their earnings to their head so he can use it for the household. They impersonate many aspects of the female gender role; for instance, they dress up like women, imitate their gait, gestures voice, facial expressions and language, but do not desire to be recognized as women. They take up feminine names when they join the khawaja sara community, and use feminine kinship terms for each other like sister, mother, aunt, grandmother etc.

Source Of Income

Their major sources of income include singing and dancing on marriages, birth celebrations and other auspicious occasions begging for alms and sex work. However, there is a small educated English speaking class of transgenders who does not have to go through the same hardships due to their social and economic status. They usually become fashion designers makeup artists, interior decorators and hair stylists or settle somewhere abroad. The transformation of the Pakistani society, in the last few decades, has curtailed opportunities for kawaja saras to practice traditional occupations, and has increased their dependence on prostitution and beggary.

Violence And Discrimination Against Third Gender

Sensational and vague stories surrounding the third gender roles, sexuality, and their secretive customs and culture make it impossible for a common man to understand, accept and tolerate their presence as part of society. The situation is more or less the same across the world. Of late there has been seen a grudging acceptance and understanding, but that is still not enough. The fact of the matter is that the binary division of genders is so deeply embedded in our minds that a person can Only be a man or a woman to demand his share of respect and rights as a human being. The situation is more or less the same across the world. Of late there has been seen a grudging acceptance and understanding, but that is still not enough. There is no safety for them in the form of family, society or state that is why harassment, abuse and sexual violence are the stark realities of a kawaka saras day to day life. The society needs to understand that there is no reason is good enough to exclude these people from the mainstream of the society or the human race in general. The problems faced by hermaphrodites start from their birth. They face a series of problems which are described as follows;

The First Rejection

Whenever a hermaphrodite is born in the family the family members consider it a shame to themselves. The neighbors scorn their behavior. Brothers and fathers physically torture them to make their behavior better. They think that they can correct their ways of carrying themselves by punishing and beating them up and do not accept what God has made them. Family, as an institution, plays a crucial role in marginalization of khawaja sara. Intolerance of gender non-conformity in terms of attitudes, identity, and behavior results in violent and insufferable attempts by family members at maintaining and reinforcing the more acceptable heterosexist regime. There are not many cultural or social examples for families to draw on and try to understand the gender identity and behavior of their children. Therefore, instead of protecting a child from the mental and physical torture inflicted on them by the wider society, the family itself humiliates beats and, in most cases, banishes the child

from the house. In our society where people are very much likely to violate the social codes which specify that how a man should be punished if he discriminates with a person who deviates from the norms. The enormous sense of isolation transgenders face in their own family finds consolation and hope only when they come across the khawaja sara community where they have acceptance. Most of the khawaja saras report that had their families not shunned them in their childhood, they could have had a better life, a better future. Once the khawaja saras becomes financially independent, the families sometimes grudgingly accept them. In most cases, their return is welcomed only because of the khawaja saras' ability to financially support the family.

Problems At Educational Institutions

A lot of transgenders are said to report that school was a nightmare for them. Fellow students pass rude comments on them and no matter how much they try to hide their true identity they are chased and harassed by older students at the institution. The teachers are no different because of lack of awareness. So this shows that hermaphrodites face severe discrimination in schools and colleges and hence they leave education at an early stage. Even if some of them attend college or complete their degrees at home they find it very hard to utilize their degrees and end up dancing and singing on the roads to earn money.

Unequal Employment Opportunities

Social discrimination in employment is one of the main factors of their involvement in sex work. Involvement of some members in prostitution labels their whole community as outcastes. Abandoned by the family, unable to obtain proper documentation, education and employment, many transgender children take up sex work in order to survive in an unfriendly environment. When young and

immature, many of them take some degree of comfort in their acceptance as women by men who use them sexually, unable to recognize the long term consequences that they face when the society refuses to offer any other work to them except beggary. There is a very small portion of the khawaja sara community which is educated. Apart from discrimination, low levels of education also add to their economic and social powerlessness but, even for those who are educated and who manage to overcome the formidable barriers, it's not easy to find a job and be treated with respect. Some organizations in Pakistan have now started hiring hermaphrodites as employees. They demand that the staff of organizations should be trained to tolerate them to make their lives less miserable.

Inhospitable Hospitals

When it comes to the health problems of hermaphrodites, the same behavior is faced by them. No hospital is ready to accept them in emergency situations and they create problems such as which ward they should be put in. Men or women can never understand this puzzling world in which a transgender leads his life. It is hell on earth, not only due to our psychological or physical state, but more because of the indifference and intolerance of the so called 'normal' people around them. medical establishment discriminates khawaja saras at various levels, whether they go in for treatment of common ailments, or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Sex reassignment or castrations are other serious concerns that need to be looked into with care. Sex reassignment surgery is an extremely complex surgery that requires strict protocols and guidelines. It precedes and follows hormonal treatments and extensive psychological counseling without which it is highly probable that it can result in serious psychological and physical impairment. But, unfortunately in Pakistan most of the khawaja saras undergo these operations, in extremely hazardous and unsanitary conditions, at the hands of senior khawaja saras or quacks. And very often, such risky sex reassignment leads to

lifelong painful health problems, sometimes a defective operation leads to heavy blood loss, or infection can lead to death. In most of the experiences shared the common grievance was the ill-treatment of khawaja Sara in government hospitals since most cannot afford to go to private clinics. The staff there asks disturbing questions regarding their sexuality and gender identity and most of the time refuses to give them proper treatment and medicines.

Discrimination by the Media

Transgender appear in mass media only as objects of ridicule and derision. As far as the portrayal of the real life dilemmas of the transgender community is concerned, there is a resounding silence. While depicting a transgender, the vernacular media, exposes them as lurid, sleazy and evil. It has also been observed that the local media liberally uses a wide range of derogatory epithets to refer to khawaja sara; for instance, khusra, hijra, chukka etc. All these labels are based on the outdated patriarchal perception of gender identity, hailing from the idea of masculinity and sexual potency as the norm.

Discrimination by the Society

There are not many NGOs and civil society organizations which are addressing gender expressions and identity or khawaja saras human rights abuse. A few that are currently involved with them are working on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. But they demand that all their problems should be solved that derive them towards prostitution or other such activities causing HIV AIDS. Civil society can play a crucial role in educating the masses on harmful effects of stereotyping gender roles and the importance of non-discrimination based on gender, gender identity and expression counseling centers should be established to facilitate families in understanding problems of gender non-conformity in their children. If a child feels that his problems are being understood within the house, he will probably never want to leave the security of his

house. The problems intensify only when a transgender child leaves the house to join khawaja sara communities, and quite often get trapped in lifelong involvement in prostitution.

Discrimination by the State

One of the most significant and powerful institution that encodes, institutionalizes and enforces discrimination against khawaja sara in Pakistan is the state itself. Pakistani law, which is a confused mixture of colonial and Islamic views makes discrimination the structural feature of transgender community. In our society, oppression of hermaphrodites by the police is a major concern expressed by their whole community. The various forms in which this oppression takes place include extortion physical and verbal abuse, and illegal detention. It is extremely difficult to trace the number and pervasiveness of such incidents as there are no police records. There is a dire need to warrant comprehensive investigation into such charges. In addition to this, the civil aspect of law totally ignores their demands of citizenship and equality in rights by making identification on the basis of sex within the binaries of male and female, a crucial requirement. Absence to fulfill this requirement deprives them from various rights including their right to vote, right to own property, right to education, employment, health facilities and so on. Such denial adds to the seclusion of this community from the fabric of Pakistani civil society.

Protecting the third Gender

Although the presence of khawaja sara in our society is not a new idea, and they are accepted in a few assigned roles of entertainers, dancers, beggars or sex workers. However, their acceptance as 'normal' and 'equal' human beings has always been an issue. They are considered social outcastes, not allowed a rightful place in the family circle, educational institutions or professional network; but only grudgingly tolerated on roads, streets and social spaces as beggars and dancers. Law is also silent on people who do not subscribe to either of the two genders: male and female; although

the basic human rights mechanisms in national laws do protect everybody without discrimination. Focus should be placed on developing public education program to inculcate acceptance for hermaphrodites.

Conclusion
The condition of hermaphrodites in our country is no better than animals. The objective of opting this topic as our presentation is not just letting the young generation know that in what conditions they live in, it is basically to create awareness that these people are no different from us and that being neither male nor female does not lessen the self respect and the right to live freely of a person. As the young generation of Pakistan we are supposed to respect them and get other people to behave humanly with them.