The paradox of recognition:hijra, third gender and sexual rights in Bangladesh

Managing diversity through transgender inclusion in developing countries: A collaborative corporate social responsibility initiative from Bangladesh

“…The Hijra community is of high importance, because most transgenders are part of it and/or are associated with it at some point of their life. Although its size varies among South Asian countries, its number in Bangladesh is believed to include 10,000 transgenders but remains approximative (Aziz & Azhar, 2019; Hossain, 2017; Jebin & Farhana, 2015). Anam (2015), for instance, warns that 10,000 are self‐declared Bangladeshi transgenders in the Hijra community, but there could be half a million transgenders more loosely associated with it.…”

“…All transgenders are expected to perform the hijragiri activities, which comprise the public ritual of badhai (holding of a baby while dancing as a form of blessing and to encourage donations) and cholla (the collection of tolls in the street; Goel, 2016; Hossain, 2012, 2017). Many, however, also sell their sex to secure a higher income, often compelled by their guru (Alizai et al, 2017; Jebin, 2019).…”

“…Focusing on transgenders in organizations in Bangladesh holds particular importance for informing studies on diversity management. This is not simply because they are “the most excluded of the excluded” (Khan et al, 2009, p. 448) but also because they were acknowledged under the law in 2013 by the government as third gender individuals (Anam, 2015; Hossain, 2017; Jebin & Farhana, 2015). Although this acknowledgment could open up new employment opportunities and prompt new protective measures, to date, Bangladeshi transgenders continue to be kept on the fringes of society (Hossain, 2018; Stenqvist, 2015) and remain largely understudied in settings of work and organizations.…”

Following the divine: an ethnographic study of structural violence among transgender jogappas in South India

“…Although transgender people occupy an important focus in recent parliamentary arenas, popular news media and public health discourse throughout South Asia (Hossain 2017;Khan 2017;Ganju and Saggurti 2017), scholars have long attempted to represent the lived realities of transgender people in this region, especially 'male bodied' hijra as 'one of the most iconic and popular examples of this so-called third gender' (Hossain 2017(Hossain , 1419; also see Nanda 1990). This rich body of scholarship raises important questions about how the 'third gender' has come to be reified in contemporary political and legal discourse (Hossain 2017). Although strongly contested in the scholarly literature (e.g.…”

The Transgender Nation and its Margins: The Many Lives of the Law

“…However, a closer investigation of the ramifications of reading non-conforming gender identity as a disability belies such hopes. Adnan Hossain (2017Hossain ( :1418 writes how after being selected for the position of office clerk, twelve hijras were forced to undergo a medical examination in 2015. The examination concluded that all twelve of them had male genitalia and therefore were impersonating hijras.…”