KARACHI:
The transgender community is one of the most marginalised communities in Pakistan. Members of this weak and vulnerable community are often shunned by their families and communities at large. They are thus forced to live on the fringes. They face immense discrimination and violence, both physical and mental. Transgender people – transgender women in particular – suffer harassment, mistreatment and exclusion from society, from public healthcare system, educational establishments, government jobs, etc. The abuse they face range from social segregation to being murdered brutally.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the high courts have given judgments whereby the authorities have been directed to ensure equal rights to members of the transgender community in the country. However, the directives have mostly remained unimplemented. Not just society, the families of trans-persons are not ready to own them.
There is need for the authorities as well as society to work towards doing away with the social, economic and political discrimination against the transgender community. There is need to bring them on a par with the rest of the population through steps like providing equal opportunities for education and training to transgender persons; earmarking quotas for them in government jobs; providing them platforms from where they can be part of the decision-making process at the local level, to start with. We all, as society, must make sure that members of the transgender community do not think of themselves as a third gender. The concerns of this helpless community need to be properly heard.
Bisma Rafaqat
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2022.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
