Report

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
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

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Surveying Nepal’s Third Gender