Surveying Nepal’s Third Gender

Development, implementation, and analysis

February 2015

This article describes the legal and social history behind Nepal’s recognition of a third gender category on its national census and provides preliminary findings from a survey of sexual and gender minorities in Nepal. The study was published in Transgender Studies Quarterly in February 2015.

AUTHORS

Kyle G. Knight
Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch
Andrew R. Flores
Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Sheila J. Nezhad
Nezhad Consulting

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Highlights

In 2011, Nepal became the first country in the world to include a third gender category on its national census.

Despite inclusion of a third gender category, several issues resulted in census data that were not disaggregated by all three gender options.

A survey conducted after the 2011 census sheds light on the characteristics and experiences of sexual and gender minority adults in Nepal.

Data Points

51%

of survey respondents identified as "third gender," the term used on the Nepali census

21

different terms were used by respondents to describe their primary gender or sexual identity

60%

of respondents reported experiencing at least one incident of abuse or discrimination at some point in their lives

23%

of respondents reported being denied services or treatment by a hospital or health clinic

67%

of respondents with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy

Please contact our communications office for a full copy of the study.

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