To end gendered violence, we must look beyond the binary lens

We find ourselves at the outro to yet another year, and the world has to keep reminding itself, like a broken record, that all of this violence against women must stop. That is precisely this year's rallying cry—"End violence against women now!"—that we chant, as women's rights activists, feminists, human rights defenders, civil society actors, artists, and individuals across the globe come together to share and reflect, to question, to mobilise, to strategise, and to continue to step up to end violence against women. Bangladesh is no stranger to this show of global solidarity, as people at home have taken to the streets and social media alike, to participate in the ongoing 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign and speak up against abuse and oppression, demand accountability and better protection, and advocate for equality and non-discrimination.

However, since the understanding of gender in Bangladesh is still very binary, most calls for eliminating gender-based violence continue to demand strengthened protection for women. Most initiatives on furthering gender equality are centred on reducing inequalities between men and women, or more specifically, between the "male" and "female" sexes. For most things to be considered "gender-inclusive" in Bangladesh, the first question many would ask is whether services, languages, institutions and the infrastructure, transportation, administration, government agencies, workplaces, places of worship, and public amenities, among other things, are "women friendly." And if they are, then benchmarks for gender equality may have well been met. Of course, we must ensure that existing legal and institutional frameworks and processes do not discriminate against women, justice mechanisms and social protections are available and accessible, and women's voices are amplified across communities and in decision-making spaces.

However, to be truly gender-inclusive is to accept and celebrate all diverse gender identities. This starts with discarding the binary constructions of gender and gender identity, and looking beyond conventional definitions. This starts with not relegating transgender individuals to the sidelines while we take 16 days out of the year to specifically focus on activism against gender-based violence. This starts with fighting discrimination with approaches that are intersectional and acknowledge people in all their diversities.

It is not possible to achieve gender equality if we set out to only even the scales between men and women, without also focusing attention on individuals who identify outside of this binary (and may call themselves gender non-conforming or gender-diverse), or individuals whose gender identities and expressions do not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth (transgender women and men) and the typical gender norms and social expectations that may arise out of such an assignment. Gender-based violence in Bangladesh is deeply rooted in gender inequality, which is created and perpetuated by patriarchal social norms, gender stereotyping, and unequal distributions of power, leading to the lack of agency and independence and a persisting culture of silence and impunity. Within this limiting context, it is extremely important to recognise and talk about the rights of transgender, hijra, and other gender-diverse individuals, marginalised because of their gender identity, to have freedom from and protection against violence and discrimination, and to have equal and inclusive access to basic necessities and services as citizens of this country.

For people who are gender-diverse, including transgender individuals, and members of the hijra community in Bangladesh (specific communities of transgender women and gender-diverse individuals who are part of the long-standing hijra tradition, and have their own language, profession, and customs rooted in this tradition), the violence, discrimination, and stigma are multifold and underlined by prejudice and misconceptions about gender, gender identity, sexuality, and the human body. Although the government has attempted to give legal recognition to diverse gender identities, through a 2014 gazette by the Ministry of Social Welfare which recognises the hijra community as the 'hijra gender," the flaw in this recognition is its exclusionary approach. Founded on a lack of proper understanding of the hijra identity and culture, it fails to appreciate the ways in which gender identity is nuanced and diverse. It does not set out what recognition actually entails for hijra community members, and it completely leaves out gender-diverse and gender non-conforming individuals, including transgender men and women, who are not part of the hijra tradition. In the absence, therefore, of conversations around gender, identity, and diversity, and recognition and identification processes that are inclusive and implemented effectively, the othering of gender-diverse individuals starts within their own families, and is further perpetuated by society and the state, and the existing structures in which these operate. Discrimination on the basis of gender identity is pervasive, resulting in obstacles to the free expression of gender and access to basic rights and necessities, such as education, healthcare (including mental health support and gender-affirming healthcare), inheritance, housing, employment opportunities, and legal support and protection against violence.

The existing laws and policies that address gender-based violence and discrimination are framed in heteronormative terms. For example, the Penal Code, 1860, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, and the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2010, all of which provide significant protections for women against different forms of sexual and gender-based violence, recognise only cisgender women—who fit into the strictly binary framework of gender—as victims and survivors of violence. Since these laws are not gender-affirming, transgender women and men as well as the members of hijra community are completely excluded from the scope of legal protection offered by these laws. The criminal justice system similarly reinforces existing heteronormative structures, which means that the courts and legal processes, and other institutional frameworks, are not gender-inclusive, preventing gender-diverse individuals from speaking up and reporting violence and discrimination based on their gender identities.

Service providers, including law enforcement agencies and those providing emergency services (such as Victim Support Centres and One-Stop Crisis Centres) and legal support, are not gender-sensitive or gender-responsive, lacking the understanding of gender diversity and the specific ways in which violence and discrimination against gender-diverse individuals occur, and lacking the appropriate resources to address these concerns. Shelter homes are also unable to house members of hijra and transgender communities facing sexual and gender-based violence—again because they do not conform to conventional and binary expressions of gender. These heteronormative and exclusionary frameworks interact to put up immense barriers in terms of access to justice for gender-diverse individuals, only compounded by the absence of any laws and policies expressly addressing and protecting the rights of all gender-diverse individuals, and the lack of an anti-discrimination law to challenge and address discrimination on the basis of gender identity. This also creates particular vulnerabilities for those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and encourages further marginalisation and exposure to violence.

In recent years, the government has taken some progressive steps towards protection and social inclusion of hijra community members, providing monthly allowances, scholarships, and skills and capacity development training. However, these steps have not been enough or effective in reducing inequalities faced by the hijras, simply because of their gender identity; nor have these created inclusive spaces for other gender-diverse individuals. The starting point for this would be to enable proper legal recognition of gender identity and make identification processes inclusive for all diverse identities. The next immediate step would be the enactment and implementation of an anti-discrimination law that recognises diverse gender identity as a basis for discrimination, and prohibits and punishes such discrimination, which could be further taken up through gender-affirming reforms in other laws, policies, and institutional practices that enable gender-diverse individuals to challenge discrimination and secure justice against violence. Any steps taken to reduce violence and discrimination based on gender must also extend to unequivocally recognising and protecting the human rights of gender-diverse individuals.

Abdullah Titir is a legal researcher working on issues of equality and non-discrimination, with a focus on hijra and transgender communities.