TITLE:
Negotiating Marginality: Social Identity and Exclusion among the Hijra Community in Rajshahi, Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Puja Rani Nandi, Md. Shafikuzzaman Joarder
KEYWORDS:
Hijra Identity, Social Exclusion, Gender Performativity, Urban-Rural Disparities, Stigma and Violence
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Applied Sociology,
Vol.15 No.12,
December
24,
2025
ABSTRACT: Using a mixed-methods approach, this research explores the social exclusion and identity negotiation of the Hijra community in the Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. The study is based on social exclusion theory (Estivill, 2003; Beall & Piron, 2005), social identity theory, and gender performativity, and examines data from 50 respondents (17 urban, 8 semi-urban, and 25 rural) sampled in April and May 2025. The results depict lack of access to education (36% never went to school), occupational exclusion (82% dependent on hijragiri—traditional activities such as dancing at ceremonies or collecting money), economic instability (68% of the total earning ≤ 10,000 BDT monthly), discrimination and violence to the full extent (94% of them had been abused), restricted social involvement (26% had not participated in any events), and urban-rural differences, where rural areas present higher rates of exclusion. Stigma, however, continues to be a problem even after the 2013 third-gender recognition and it intersects with class and location (Crenshaw, 1989). The recent research is more focused on the cultural tightness that reinforces binary norms and the paradoxical consequences of legal recognition.