Discuss the issues relating to the entitlement of transgender in Indian society. (UPSC CSE Mains 2018 - Sociology, Paper 2)
- Despite the government passing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 for the empowerment and overall, the well-being of the transgender community, they still continue to face challenges in their daily walks of life.
- Though the Supreme Court recognised transgenders as ‘third gender’ but the existing structures in state apparatuses still work on the gender binary.
Issues relating to the entitlement of transgender in Indian society
- Discrimination and ostracisation:
- They face discrimination in employment, educational institutes, and within families which severely affects their overall wellbeing.
- Identity crisis:
- They are often forced to identify with a gender with which they are not associated at the workplace despite the government passing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 which allows the community the right to self-perceived gender identity.
- Social Stigma:
- They often face difficulty in property inheritance or child adoption. Because of being socially ostracised they are compelled to take up menial jobs despite good qualifications or forced into sex work.
- Unemployment:
- The community has limited avenues of employment and faces severe discrimination at work because of the associated social stigma.
- Lack of public amenities:
- They face issues with the accessibility of public toilets and public spaces. They often face problems in prisons, hospitals and schools.
Road ahead
- The establishment of National Council for Transgender Persons has been a welcome step to mainstream the community in the society and increase sense of respect for transgender community.
- Effective functioning: Though the state along with civil society must ensure the effective functioning of the council with respect to identifying the challenges faced by the community and redressing it.
- Social engineering:There is a need to sensitise the society that the community is a part of us and are co-equals.
- Sensitising the law enforcement: There is also a need to sensitise the legal and law enforcement systems towards the challenges of the community.
- Rectifying The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019: There are certain shortcoming in the act which should be rectified by the government. They are:
- The Act does not say anything about granting reservations to transgender persons.
- There is a provision for penalising organised begging which is coercive in nature as many of the community members don’t have avenues for livelihood.
- There is no provision penalising rape or sexual assault of transgender person.
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