Lingual Abuse Faced by Transgenders in Hazara Division: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

The political and social movements striving to ensure egalitarianism in human societies
resulted in significant improvement in various modes of human life all over the world.
This impact, however, is not visible in its true spirit in third world countries. In
Pakistan, women got some of their due rights but transgenders’ story is not so
encouraging. In South Asia the transgenders remained respectable especially during
the Mughal era where they had some serious responsibilities but now mostly this
gender is discriminated and marginalized. This study focuses on lingual abuse and its
consequent impacts of otherness faced by transgenders in Pakistan. The study has been
delimited to Hazara Division only. The researcher also tried to find out the solution to
this problem according to transgenders’ perception. Interviewing method is used to
obtain data which was subsequently analyzed using Fairclough’s three dimensional
model to seek the answers of research questions. It was found that 80 percent of
transgenders face discrimination and lingual attacks that affect them personally,
socially, mentally and emotionally. Furthermore, it was found that lingual attacks also
make them other in society due to which they are entirely ignored and kept away from
their basic rights.