Local facing identity crisis after sex change operation
By Sanaa Maadad UAE Editor, and Eman Al Baik


DUBAI — Hamda, formerly Hamad, a young UAE national, is now suffering from an identity crisis because of a lack of legislation on sex change in the country. Amidst social condemnation and the absence of an official stance on the issue, Hamda is campaigning for the right to be legally declared a female.


The concept of sex change is still taboo in Arab societies. However, irrespective of Hamad’s reasons to become a woman, and the country where the operation took place, Hamda is a reality which society must now face. “Hamda is now a fact that we must face. We cannot keep treating her as a male. Not recognising Hamda’s right to legalise her new identity is oppression from a human point of view,” commented Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Rokn, a reputed lawyer and human rights activist in the UAE and the former chairman of the Emirates Jurists Association.