Bahraini Lawyer Becomes First Woman To Win Two Sex Change Cases


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July 22, 2008 6:49 p.m. EST

Topics: World
Sandeep Singh Grewal - AHN Middle East Correspondent

Manama, Bahrain (AHN) - A Bahraini lawyer has become the first woman in the Gulf to have won two cases of sex change, fighting all the odds in a society which considers it taboo.

On Sunday, Fouzia Mohammed Janahi won a landmark judgment after the lower court here gave the green light for her client Hussain Rabie to change his name in passports and other official documents. Hussain, formerly known as Zainab, was officially declared a man by the Higher Court in June and was only waiting for his new identity on papers.

"This is my second victory for a similar case. I am the only woman lawyer in the Gulf who has won two sex change cases and is currently handling them,"Janahi told AHN.

The lawyer won her first controversial gender change case in 2005 after five years and on Sunday she did it again by winning a similar case. Her client, Hussain, successfully underwent a sex change operation in December at the Yanhee International Hospital in Thailand, a hospital popular for cosmetic surgery and sex reassignment surgery.

Doctors treating Hussain said that instead of having a female pattern chromosome of XX, he had a XY chromosome, which is characteristic of a male.

Hussain, who has said he never felt like a woman, faced problems while travelling due to his personal appearance and details of the passport listing his sex as male.

"Hussain is now happy and can travel. He will have his new identity on passports, officials IDs, health cards and bank statements. We have received an approval letter stating the above from the judge and will soon submit it to the concerned bodies," Janahi said.

The success story of Hussain has crossed borders with several individuals whose personal situations were similar to this latest case. Janahi has been contacted by potential clients from Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. All of the individuals tell her they are trapped in the wrong bodies.

"I had a meeting recently with my client from Qatar. I am waiting for his medical report which is the main foundation for all my cases. I do not accept any sex change case without medical reports stating the problem,"Janahi said.

The attorney added that she has received several calls from men in Kuwait who wanted to become females.

"It is difficult to become females as there are complications. But there are a large number of such cases in Kuwait," Janahi said.

The lawyer is now set to take up her third case, but this time it is a Bahraini man who wants to become a woman.

There have been several debates in the region on the legality of sex change operations. But if doctors state that a person has gender identity disorder, there are usually no reservations by religious scholars.


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