Dehumanizing the Humans: The Curious Case of the Third Sex

India has seen many great men and women at different point of time who have taken up social issues, created awareness and have inspired many to change.

Every generation had their heroes.Whether we talk about Savitribai Phule who advocated for Women education or Kailash Satyarthi who campaigned against Child labor,almost every social issue has been touched upon in the last 100 Years in someway or the other.

But amongst all these there has been an issue that has always got overshadowed . Not because of the unawareness but because of the Ignorance: “The issue of Dehumanizing the humans of Third Sex.”

Third Sex is an umbrella Term which is used to define any person who feel that their Gender Identity or Gender expression doesn't match the sex they were assigned at birth.
However in the Indian Subcontinent there is no formal way of defining the Third Gender.

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In the Indian subcontinent, a common term used to describe transgenders,transsexuals, eunuchs and cross-dressers is “Hijra”.
Hijras identify themselves as neither male nor female not only by the virtue of anatomy appearance and psychology but also as people who do not have reproduction capacities of men or women. Hence they are referred as the “Third Sex”

The Curious Case of the Third Sex

Once revered and now feared, the Hijra community which is believed to be more than 4,000 years old has seen it all.
Interestingly there are lot of references of this community in both Hindu and Muslim Texts where they have been celebrated as a bearer of luck and fertility.
The legends of Mahabharata talks about the Great Prince Aravan who sacrificed himself for the greater good. It is from his lineage that the trans genders are said to have been born. 

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Picture: Ricardo Cavolo

Then there is another story that we can find in folk tales of Ramayana. The story goes like this, when Lord Rama was exiled from Ayodhaya for 14 years, his entire kingdom began to follow him into the forest. Seeing this Lord Rama told his disciples: “Men and women, please wipe your tears and go away.”

All his disciples left, expect for a group who decided to stay back, because they were neither men nor women. They waited for the return of their king for 14 years in the woods. This group was of Hijras .  Seeing their dedication and loyalty towards their king, won them a place in the Hindu Mythology.

Similar references can been seen in the ancient texts of Indian Muslims where Eunuchs served as a guard of the most important and holy objects of the Mughal Rulers. As they were thought to be away from the sexual temptation they were considered pure and incorruptible. And hence they enjoyed an influential position in the Muslim Rulers Court.
This however changed with the Rise of British Raj. When British took over the direct rule of India they brought with them lot of western beliefs and Ideas that were opposite to the Indian Belief System. They passed a law in 1864 classifying all eunuchs as criminals.

This law of marginalizing and hating anybody who was not straight took hold in the Indian Society.  Because of this the Hijra community which once held an influential role in the society got reduced to a group that is today ostracized and socially outcasted.
The social Exile of this community had forced them to form their own communities and to live in complete isolation.

Vast majority of Indians still hate and mistreat Hijras. Even though Hijras are often called for auspicious events for blessing but still they are subjected to widespread discrimination.

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 Many are forced to beg for money as they are barred from most employment opportunity, some of them also end up in prostitution. 
Apart from the employment related issue they face continuous harassment from Police and get almost zero access to the basic medical care. A number of cases have been reported where the Hijra patient died because of no access to basic medical facility. The reason is that there is a huge mistrust amongst the doctor and Hijra patients. Doctors fear because they have not been educated on gender identity issues and hence have lot of misconceptions just like rest of the people. Hijra Patients fears because of the risk of being mistreated.

Going Backward-The only way forward
Widespread social stigmas and discrimination against this community have been promoted since generations. However India has also seen a time when the Humans of Third Sex enjoyed the utmost respect, a time when there was no discrimination, a time when they enjoyed every basic right that they are denied now.

Alot has changed in the last 20 years. People have made a transition from a conservative group to a more accepting group but still the progress on this issue has been limited. One of the reason being that this behavior has got so much ingrained in our DNA that seeing them being dehumanized every day has become a normal affair for us.

The only way forward that I see is by going backward to the basics. Sensitizing the children from the young age by including subjects on such issues in the education system is the only solution left.

Otherwise we will keep failing them like we have always been..!!