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A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana

Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019.

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Other Authors: Viljoen, Frans
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Viljoen, Frans
author_browse Viljoen, Frans
author_facet Viljoen, Frans
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:43.676Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/73365 A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana Viljoen, Frans pearlmagashula@gmail.com Magashula, Kutlwano Pearl UCTD Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. This mini-dissertation is a critical analysis of the judgment in ND v Attorney General and the Registrar of National Registration, decided by the Botswana High Court. The analysis is conducted with a view to making an argument for removing barriers to legal gender recognition for transgender persons in the context of Botswana. The study uses critical feminist theory and identity-based critiques of dominant cultural practices to contest the objectivity of the judgment. In addition, it demonstrates how the approach adopted by the Court reinforces exclusionary and hierarchical norms that further marginalise non-binary and gender non-conforming persons who fall under the transgender umbrella. The mini-dissertation argues that the Court in this case not only pathologised transgender identities but made legal recognition conditional on medical interventions. This position was adopted, notwithstanding a restrictive public health policy environment that precludes gender affirming treatment and which makes access to such services income-based. The study demonstrates that this approach violated understandings of international human rights law which call for self-determination as the basis for legal gender recognition without any restrictive requirements. The mini- dissertation argues that the Court reduced the inquiry into one characterised by paternalism, which conceptualises gender identity within a normative social framework that views gender as a binary antithetic. It demonstrates how the judgment perpetuates gendered power relations and reinforces monolithic expressions of gender. The candidate proposes more balanced approaches to legal gender recognition, in tandem with international standards and responsive to the lived experiences of transgender persons in Botswana. These approaches call for the depathologisation and destigmatisation of gender identity and recommend the recognition of gender plurality and ending gender registration. Centre for Human Rights LLM Unrestricted 2020-02-17T10:05:01Z 2020-02-17T10:05:01Z 2019 2019 Mini Dissertation Magashula , KP 2019, A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana, LLM Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/73365> D2019 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/73365 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana
title A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana
title_full A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana
title_fullStr A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana
title_full_unstemmed A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana
title_short A case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in Botswana
title_sort case for removing barriers to the legal recognition of transgender identity in botswana
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/73365