The trans community in Kuwait during a #FreeMaha era
Advocacy can take on many lanes or show up in different forms. Conversations happening offline and alongside online Tweets are generously pouring in from those who so desperately seek justice for vulnerable survivors with no advocates. Strength in numbers is the advocate’s road to solidarity. This is one way advocacy is giving a new voice to the trans experience in Kuwait.
Even though trans people undergo extensive and often complex changes including surgeries to finally feel like the gender they identify with, legal barriers fueled with public hate, and coupled with internalized shame, do not permit a wholesome transition.
Article 198 of Kuwait’s Penal Code, which was amended in 2007, gives law enforcement the right to arrest those who “imitate the opposite sex.” Transgender individuals are virtually viewed as impostors who deserve criminal punishment. Their best bet is to avoid law enforcement at all costs, but even that does not guarantee amnesty. As for the legal writing itself, some parts remain unclear to me. Who determines what constitutes imitation? How is fairness applied? And, more importantly, Why is the consequence of dressing according to your choice bare a higher degree of severe punishment over sexual assault and pedophilia crimes? I have more questions than answers.
What are your options, really? If you were arrested, stripped naked and forced to dance in front of other officers at the station, what evidence would you have to back up your claim? If you were reported by your doctor during a sick visit because your ID didn’t match your face, when do you think you will be back for your next appointment? If you are told by a police officer to either have sex or get arrested, which act would you choose to be a victim of? When will you get arrested again because another local citizen reported you for looking suspicious? Will you be able to sleep in your jail cell knowing that at any moment someone with a key can walk in and touch your body against your will?
According to the Human Rights Watch, most transgender women interviewed for the report’s findings said they were arrested, some as many as nine times. In Kuwait, trans-gendered people seldom have legal recourse to change the gender cited on their ID cards. So your hope is to never get pulled over or noticed by law enforcement. How can you possibly keep a low profile to yourself when society sees you as an obvious outcast? There are (recorded and untold) accounts of jail time, fines, solitary confinement, quid pro quo, beatings and passport bans on travel all because of a little picture on your ID with a gender identifier next to it.
The latest situation has Maha Al-Mutairi on the social media stage who got arrested yet again for attempting to live her gender identity. Maha is the first trans woman to speak publicly about issues surrounding the trans community for decades. She unfortunately stated to have suffered torture, rape and assault while in jail. The brutal situation that is the treatment of human life received the usual backlash that being trans is against one’s religion. What’s different now? Well, if being trans is against one’s faith, then the same should apply for rape and sexual assault. Or shall we continue to applaud abusers?
This is a traumatizing and painful parallel dichotomy of actively prosecuting one action, and passively ignoring the evil other.
Trans women remain a vulnerable target for police brutality and social scrutiny. Trans people are fighting for their lives everyday, what choice do they have? It takes a special kind of dignity and perseverance. Nevertheless, they persist.
Call to action —
Abolish Article 198. It’s out of date, and we are out of time.
Even though trans people undergo extensive and often complex changes including surgeries to finally feel like the gender they identify with, legal barriers fueled with public hate, and coupled with internalized shame, do not permit a wholesome transition.
Article 198 of Kuwait’s Penal Code, which was amended in 2007, gives law enforcement the right to arrest those who “imitate the opposite sex.” Transgender individuals are virtually viewed as impostors who deserve criminal punishment. Their best bet is to avoid law enforcement at all costs, but even that does not guarantee amnesty. As for the legal writing itself, some parts remain unclear to me. Who determines what constitutes imitation? How is fairness applied? And, more importantly, Why is the consequence of dressing according to your choice bare a higher degree of severe punishment over sexual assault and pedophilia crimes? I have more questions than answers.
What are your options, really? If you were arrested, stripped naked and forced to dance in front of other officers at the station, what evidence would you have to back up your claim? If you were reported by your doctor during a sick visit because your ID didn’t match your face, when do you think you will be back for your next appointment? If you are told by a police officer to either have sex or get arrested, which act would you choose to be a victim of? When will you get arrested again because another local citizen reported you for looking suspicious? Will you be able to sleep in your jail cell knowing that at any moment someone with a key can walk in and touch your body against your will?
According to the Human Rights Watch, most transgender women interviewed for the report’s findings said they were arrested, some as many as nine times. In Kuwait, trans-gendered people seldom have legal recourse to change the gender cited on their ID cards. So your hope is to never get pulled over or noticed by law enforcement. How can you possibly keep a low profile to yourself when society sees you as an obvious outcast? There are (recorded and untold) accounts of jail time, fines, solitary confinement, quid pro quo, beatings and passport bans on travel all because of a little picture on your ID with a gender identifier next to it.
The latest situation has Maha Al-Mutairi on the social media stage who got arrested yet again for attempting to live her gender identity. Maha is the first trans woman to speak publicly about issues surrounding the trans community for decades. She unfortunately stated to have suffered torture, rape and assault while in jail. The brutal situation that is the treatment of human life received the usual backlash that being trans is against one’s religion. What’s different now? Well, if being trans is against one’s faith, then the same should apply for rape and sexual assault. Or shall we continue to applaud abusers?
This is a traumatizing and painful parallel dichotomy of actively prosecuting one action, and passively ignoring the evil other.
Trans women remain a vulnerable target for police brutality and social scrutiny. Trans people are fighting for their lives everyday, what choice do they have? It takes a special kind of dignity and perseverance. Nevertheless, they persist.
Call to action —
Abolish Article 198. It’s out of date, and we are out of time.
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