Navigating Gender Categories: The Socio-Economic Realities of the Hijra Community in India

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Abstract

In 2014, the Indian government officially recognized the 'third gender' which is a category primarily reserved for the Hijra community who do not fit into the traditional gender binary system. While this recognition has been an important milestone for the community, Hijra members continue to to face socio economic discrimination. Using a mixed methods approach this study integrates a content analysis of Hijra individual's autobiographies and observational work conducted in the winter of 2025 to explore how caste, education and english language proficiency mediate the community member's access to work and in turn lead to further stratification within the community. The next steps in this study involve conducting semi structured interviews with the Hijra community as well as NGOs in India for the transgender community to further explore the complex socio-economic ground realities for the community.

Author

• Tanaya Pange