Gender Dysphoria

Human society has determined two genders anatomically, male and female, based on the major population from the past and present. When a baby is born, we declare whether it is a boy or girl, but when it comes to an absence of proper genital identity as male or female, we feel distressed because society requires a person to be identified as either a man or woman from the tradition.

Hijra is a local term mainly in Indian subcontinents including Bangladesh. These people can be nonbinary, transgender, genderqueer, and gender varieties. Gender identity becomes a problem in two phases, one is when a person is growing up and cannot identify their gender which creates a crisis as the majority world is divided into men and women. The second phase of crisis starts when the person identifies their gender and declares whether he is a female but raised as a male, or something else or thinks as a third gender which is a common umbrella to gather every different gender apart from male and female, then society cannot accept properly as binary gender has less social experience how to accept them and treat them well.

Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country where most people are comfortable with man-and-woman relationships but the third gender is socially excluded due to lack of social awareness and willingness of the government to provide enough protection and opportunities, as they are the minority in society. Many Hijra feel discomfort getting socialized with mainstream society and the society also doesn’t accept them equally with dignity. Hijras in Bangladesh are experiencing poverty, exclusion, harassment, insecurity, and no higher educational opportunity.