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Transgender Persons and Structural Barriers in Criminal Justice: A Comparative Study of India and Indonesia

Unnes Law Journal · Vol. 12 No. 1 (2026) · pp. 269–314

DOI
10.15294/ulj.v12i1.49589
ISSN
2252-6536
Published
2026-09-23
Publisher
Universitas Negeri Semarang
Language
eng
License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

Abstract

This article critically examines the structural and legal barriers faced by transgender (TG) persons within the criminal justice systems (CJS) of India and Indonesia. It systematically inquires into the gaps in substantive criminal laws, procedural safeguards, policing practices, trial process, and prison administration that exclude TG persons in India and Indonesia from access to justice. It focuses on three offence clusters: sexual violence, police violence/custodial abuse, and criminalisation through public order/morality laws. The paper argues that CJS of both the jurisdictions fail to protect TG persons not only because of social stigma or lack of recognition, but because the substantive criminal laws and procedural safeguards are designed around gender-binary notion and are implemented through hostile law-enforcement institutions. This research employs a doctrinal and comparative legal methodology to analyse the treatment of TG persons across three stages of the CJS: pre-trial reporting and investigation, trial, and post-trial prison administration. It contrasts India’s recognition framework- grounded in the landmark NALSA judgement and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019-alongside its criminal law scheme under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 with Indonesia’s constitutional guarantees, recent KUHP reforms, Law No. 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes, and morality-based regional enforcement. The research concludes that India and Indonesia differ in formal recognition but converge in structural obstacles such as gender-binary penal laws, police violence, and data invisibility. It recommends for substantive legislative reform, stronger implementation mechanisms, and greater institutional accountability to secure meaningful criminal justice protection for TG persons in both the jurisdictions.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

40 authors · 181 co-authorship links · showing the 40 most connected

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Co-authorOrganisationJoint articles
Rasdi RasdiAffiliation unknown14
Waspiah WaspiahAffiliation unknown13
Anis WidyawatiAffiliation unknown11
Riska AlkadriAffiliation unknown11
Ngboawaji Daniel NteAffiliation unknown9
Dian LatifianiAffiliation unknown9
Septhian Eka AdiyatmaAffiliation unknown9
Rodiyah RodiyahAffiliation unknown8
Nadiyah Meyliana PutriAffiliation unknown8
Muhammad Iqbal BaiquniAffiliation unknown7
Bayangsari WedhatamiAffiliation unknown7
Indah Sri UtariAffiliation unknown7
Ali MasyharAffiliation unknown6
Nurul FibriantiAffiliation unknown6
Asyaffa Ridzqi AmandhaAffiliation unknown5
Riki JuliantoAffiliation unknown5
Varun ChhachharAffiliation unknown5
Muhammad Azil MaskurAffiliation unknown4
Sonny Saptoajie WicaksonoAffiliation unknown4
R Benny RiyantoAffiliation unknown4
Karsinah KarsinahAffiliation unknown4
Bintang Rafli AnantaAffiliation unknown4
Zainurohmah ZainurohmahAffiliation unknown4
Fitria DamayantiAffiliation unknown4
Muhammad Wahyu Saiful HudaAffiliation unknown4
Ngaboawaji Daniel NteAffiliation unknown4
Ahsana NadiyyaAffiliation unknown3
Asmarani RamliAffiliation unknown3
Dewi Puspa SariAffiliation unknown3
Layla Putri AulyaAffiliation unknown3
Robert Brian SmithAffiliation unknown3
Raden Muhammad Arvy IlyasaAffiliation unknown3
Heni RosidaAffiliation unknown3

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ulj/oai, first harvested 6 Nov 2026, last seen 6 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
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	<dc:title xml:lang="en">Transgender Persons and Structural Barriers in Criminal Justice: A Comparative Study of India and Indonesia</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Kumar, Niharika</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Singh, Rajvendra</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Singh, Shobhit Pratap</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Chaurasia, Siddharth</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Singh, Prashant</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Arifin, Ridwan</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Alejandro, Sergi Fernandez</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">criminal justice system </dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">gender-neutral</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">structural barriers</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">transgender</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">waria</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">This article critically examines the structural and legal barriers faced by transgender (TG) persons within the criminal justice systems (CJS) of India and Indonesia. It systematically inquires into the gaps in substantive criminal laws, procedural safeguards, policing practices, trial process, and prison administration that exclude TG persons in India and Indonesia from access to justice. It focuses on three offence clusters: sexual violence, police violence/custodial abuse, and criminalisation through public order/morality laws. The paper argues that CJS of both the jurisdictions fail to protect TG persons not only because of social stigma or lack of recognition, but because the substantive criminal laws and procedural safeguards are designed around gender-binary notion and are implemented through hostile law-enforcement institutions. This research employs a doctrinal and comparative legal methodology to analyse the treatment of TG persons across three stages of the CJS: pre-trial reporting and investigation, trial, and post-trial prison administration. It contrasts India’s recognition framework- grounded in the landmark NALSA judgement and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019-alongside its criminal law scheme under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 with Indonesia’s constitutional guarantees, recent KUHP reforms, Law No. 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes, and morality-based regional enforcement. The research concludes that India and Indonesia differ in formal recognition but converge in structural obstacles such as gender-binary penal laws, police violence, and data invisibility. It recommends for substantive legislative reform, stronger implementation mechanisms, and greater institutional accountability to secure meaningful criminal justice protection for TG persons in both the jurisdictions.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Universitas Negeri Semarang</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2026-09-23</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ulj/article/view/49589</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.15294/ulj.v12i1.49589</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Unnes Law Journal; Vol. 12 No. 1 (2026): Transforming Law and Protecting Rights: Contemporary Issues in Legal Reform and Governance; 269-314</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2252-6536</dc:source>
	<dc:source>10.15294/ulj.v12i1</dc:source>
	<dc:language>eng</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/ulj/article/view/49589/11959</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2026 Niharika Kumar, Rajvendra Singh, Shobhit Pratap Singh, Siddharth Chaurasia, Prashant Singh, Ridwan Arifin, Sergi Fernandez Alejandro (Author)</dc:rights>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0</dc:rights>
</oai_dc:dc>