Third Gender: The Challenges for Developing Countries

The term third gender describes individuals who are considered and are identified as of female gender. The Europeans and other countries, named it as ‘transgender’ or ‘transsexual’. It is one of the great challenges for India, because India is the only country where the tradition of eunuchs is prevalent. There are about 1 million of them, though their role in life has changed drastically from that of royal servants and friends.  They persist as a marginalized and creative subculture in deprived urban districts of Bombay, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, and Delhi. They do have widespread presence as T-G communities in southern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. With demands for proper identification, the Central Bureaus of Statistics (CBS) has included ‘third gender’ in the Census scheduled for 2011.

The paper is focused on 48 T-Gs living of border areas in the state of Maharashtra and Karnataka and used snow ball sampling method. The third-genders are deviants in the sense, they have been exploited for immoral traffic and someone is carries of venereal diseases also. They have no future and are unable to come out of the situation in which they have been put by their sexual position. They have become a community which is not liked by greater society in spite of the fact; they cater some ritual and religious needs of public. They do not have any specific economic role and are not sure about the income. They are poor community and a victim of public ridicule. 

            The third-gender indulges in prostitution and in the drug traffic for their livelihood. It is necessary to educate them and give suitable jobs and protection to avoid further problematic situation in the society. Practically, the problem is not with their inclusion but is how can we stop the blind faith that creates T-G?