Legal Gender Recognition: A Multi-Country Legal and Policy Review in Asia

The vast majority of transgender people across the Asia-Pacific region are unable to obtain any official identification documents that reflect their gender identity. This lack of gender recognition fosters widespread social exclusion, stigma, discrimination and violence when individuals are perceived to deviate from gender norms because their gender identity and/or expression does not coincide with their sex assigned at birth. This report undertakes a comprehensive review of existing laws, policies and practices related to legal gender recognition for transgender people in nine countries in Asia: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand.