Hermaphrodites (Hijras) in Bangladesh: A Marginalized Community Searching for Legal and Social Recognition

Abstract

'Hermaphrodite' a group of people, does not fall under the category of male or female human being, are ignored by family, under estimated by society and discriminated by state. This is a very common and cruel picture of hermaphrodite life in Bangladesh. Most of the time we see them ornamented but we do not think that there are a lot of pains, sufferings and deprivation which surround their lives. For living they lived collectively in separate community and earned their livelihood by sex business, compelling people to give them money and sometimes entertaining people in various ceremonies and festivals. This creates a mistaken public perception about this group of people. As human beings and citizens of the State, they are entitled to equal rights and protection. In this paper, I try to trace some major problems faced by this group of people and point out what should be done to improve their existing position.