SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

preference, and the variety of sexual identities is complex and linked with traditional
customary practices. As in some other countries in region, in India boys may have sexual
relations with other boys or with men as pre-adolescents or adolescents without establishing a
permanent sexual preference for men. As youths, many boys sexually experiment with male
partners during the onset of puberty, in part because custom forbids sexual activity with
females (except female sex workers) and in part because there is no strict social prohibition of
this behaviour, provided they are discreet about their activities. 222 This youthful sexual
experimentation does not conflict with adult heterosexual relationships and marriage. At the
same time, the lack of social prohibition, coupled with children’s reluctance to report sexual
abuse, can provide a screen behind which boys can be forcibly and unwillingly abused by
men and other boys in the home and community.
Chawas is a name commonly used for men who have sex with men who prefer to retain male
dress and do not display feminine characteristics. Due to the cultural imperative of marriage,
many chawas marry and live observably heterosexual lives as adults. Others live with male
partners, a social situation becoming increasingly common in urban India. For men who have
sex with men who have a feminine gender construction, i.e., those who prefer to display
feminine characteristics, there are several alternatives. Some maintain male dress and social
presentation. Those who dress in female attire, whether usually or occasionally, are referred
to as zenanas. Some spend part of their time dressed in male attire, even holding typical male
jobs. Others spend all their time in female attire and live with other zenanas, as partners or in
communities.
In Pakistan, the term zenana is used for transvestite males who may or may not be castrated,
while in India the term is frequently used to distinguish non-castrated transvestite males from
males of traditional castrated communities, who are generally known as hijras. Often, the
terms zenana and hijra are used interchangeably.
Hijras have a long and in many cases respected tradition in South Asian society. The hijras
refer to themselves as the ‘third gender’. As boys or young men, they assume the dress and
habits of women, and the majority are castrated. They are inducted into an established group
of hijras through a ritual called chatai, in which the initiate becomes the ‘daughter’ of the
guru, or head, of the household. As in the guru-chela (student) relationships of South Asian
tradition, the young person becomes the ‘property’ of the guru and is provided with food,
housing and clothing and is integrated into the community – in this case a community of
persons with alternative sexual identity. Human rights violations in the form of castration still
accompany the entry of a young male into the hijra community.
Traditionally, the hijras performed important social functions in the community, particularly
ceremonies to bless newborn children, occasions that were noted for dancing, joking and
ribald humour at the expense of the young father. Hijra gurus were often highly respected and
conducted healing rituals for sick children and blessings for pregnant women. 223 In modern
222 Save the Children Sweden-Denmark (Slugget, C.), 2003, ‘Mapping of psychosocial support for girls and boys
affected by child sexual abuse in four countries in South and Central Asia’.
223 Nanda, S., 1999, ‘Neither man nor woman: The hijras of India’.
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