Hijra (South Asia)

For other uses, see Kinnaur.
Hijra
A hijra in a traditional village performance
A hijra in a traditional village performance
MeaningUmbrella term for people who are transgender, intersex, or eunuchs
ClassificationGender identity
Other terms
SynonymsAravani, Jagappa, Kinnar, Khawaja Sira, Khadra, Moorat
Associated termsKothi, Third gender, Trans woman
Demographics
CultureSouth Asian
Regions with significant populations
Indian subcontinent
 India3 million[1][2] (2014)
 Pakistan10,000+ (2020)[3]
 Bangladesh10,000–50,000 (2020)[4]
Legal information
RecognitionYes (India, Bangladesh and Pakistan)
ProtectionLimited
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In the Indian subcontinent, hijra[a] are transgender, intersex, or eunuch people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as the guru-chela system.[5][6][7][8] They are also known as aravani, aruvani, and jogappa,[9] and in Pakistan, khawaja sira.[10]

In Western terms, most hijras are feminine-identifying people assigned male at birth. Hijras are officially recognised as a third gender throughout countries in the Indian subcontinent,[11][12][13] being considered neither completely male nor female. Hijras' identity originates in ancient Hinduism and evolved during the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and Mughal Empire (1526–1707).[14][15]

Many hijras today live in well-defined and organised all-hijra communities, led by a guru.[7] These communities have consisted over generations of those who are in abject poverty or who have been rejected by or fled their family of origin.[16] Many of them are sex workers.[17]

The word hijra is a Hindustani word.[18] It has traditionally been translated into English as "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite", where "the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition".[19] However, in general hijras have been born male, with only a few having been born with intersex variations.[20] Some hijras undergo an initiation rite into the hijra community called nirvaan, which involves the removal of the penis, scrotum and testicles.[17]

Since the late 20th century, some hijra activists and non-government organizations have lobbied for official recognition of the hijra as a kind of "third sex" or "third gender", as neither man nor woman.[21] Hijras have successfully gained this recognition in Bangladesh and are eligible for priority in education and certain kinds of low paid jobs.[22][23] In India, the Supreme Court in April 2014 recognised hijras, transgender people, eunuchs, and intersex people as a "third gender" in law.[5][24][25] Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have all legally accepted the existence of a third gender, with India, Pakistan and Nepal including an option for them on passports and certain official documents.[26]

  1. ^ Rhude, Kristofer (2018). "The Third Gender and Hijras HINDUISM CASE STUDY - GENDER | 2018". Harvard Divinity School. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  2. ^ Roy, Jeff (2014). "Unveiling Koovagam". World Policy Journal. 31 (2): 93. doi:10.1177/0740277514541061.
  3. ^ "Total number of transgender population in Pakistan". ResearchGate. December 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  4. ^ Al-Mamun, Md.; Hossain, Md. Jamal; Alam, Morshed; Parvez, Md. Shahin; Dhar, Bablu Kumar; Islam, Md. Rabiul (October 2022). "Discrimination and social exclusion of third-gender population (Hijra) in Bangladesh: A brief review". Heliyon. 8 (10): e10840. Bibcode:2022Heliy...810840A. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10840. PMC 9547216. PMID 36217490.
  5. ^ a b "India recognises transgender people as third gender". The Guardian. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  6. ^ Shaw et al. 2017, Köllen 2016, p. 171, Seow 2017, p. 132, Ginicola, Smith & Filmore 2017, p. 189
  7. ^ a b Nanda 1985, pp. 35–54 "The most significant relationship in the hijra community is that of the guru (master, teacher) and chela (disciple)."
    Cohen 1995, "Hijras are organized into households with a hijra guru as head, into territories delimiting where each household can dance and demand money from merchants"
  8. ^ "Who are the hijras?". Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Hijra Community, India (Govt.)".
  10. ^ "Engendering rights". 19 July 2017.
  11. ^ Shaw et al. 2017, Bevan 2016, p. 70
  12. ^ "7 Countries Giving Transgender People Fundamental Rights the U.S. Still Won't". mic.com. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
    "Hijras and Bangladesh: The creation of a third gender". pandeia.eu. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  13. ^ Hossain, Adnan (April 2017). "The paradox of recognition: hijra, third gender and sexual rights in Bangladesh". Culture, Health & Sexuality. 19 (12). Taylor & Francis: 1418–1431. doi:10.1080/13691058.2017.1317831. eISSN 1464-5351. hdl:11245.1/4b35820e-309a-4ecf-be63-e618467cb19b. ISSN 1369-1058. OCLC 41546256. PMID 28498049. S2CID 5372595.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Iyer, Nalini (2009). "Hijra". Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, Volume 1. SAGE. p. 421. ISBN 9781412909167.
  16. ^ Nanda 1999, p. 116 "None of the hijra narratives I recorded supports the widespread belief in India that hijras recruit their membership by making successful claims on intersex infants. Instead, it appears that most hijras join the community in their youth, either out of a desire to more fully express their feminine gender identity, under the pressure of poverty, because of ill treatment by parents and peers for feminine behaviour, after a period of homosexual prostitution, or for a combination of these reasons.".
  17. ^ a b Nanda 1996.
  18. ^ Reddy 2010, p. 243 "By and large, the Hindi/Urdu term hijra is used more often in the north of the country, whereas the Telugu term kojja is more specific to the state of Andhra Pradesh, of which Hyderabad is the capital."
  19. ^ Nanda 1999.
  20. ^ Nanda 1991, "Among thirty of my informants, only one appeared to have been born intersexed.".
  21. ^ Agrawal 1997, pp. 273–97.
  22. ^ "Gurus of eunuchs can not recommend castration: Govt". 9 March 2012.
  23. ^ Karim, Mohosinul (11 November 2013). "Hijras now a separate gender". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  24. ^ McCoy, Terrence (15 April 2014). "India now recognizes transgender citizens as 'third gender'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  25. ^ "Supreme Court recognizes transgenders as 'third gender'". The Times of India. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  26. ^ Julfikar Ali Manik and Ellen Barry, "A Transgender Bangladeshi Changes Perceptions After Catching Murder Suspects", The New York Times, 3 April 2015.


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