Transphobia is a term that describes the discriminatory behaviour-physical, verbal and psychological- towards transgender community of a society. The causes of such prejudice behaviours are socially constructed and due to baseless learned fears and norms. Such social attitudes deprive transgenders of opportunities to have equal access to their rights and grow as a healthy member of the society. Such transphobic behaviours are common and challenging in different societies of the world.
Pakistan is a country having a small transgender community which was first time recorded in the nation-wide conducted census in 2017.According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, there are 10,000 transgenders making 0.24 % of total population, recoded in 2017 census of Pakistan. Most of the times, we find this community begging on roads /markets and providing entertainment at weddings and at festivities of family occasions. Many of them are also forced to get involved in some unlawful activities to earn bread and butter. We can easily identify that there are very less respectable economic opportunities for this community. Moreover, they are also victims of violence and aggression in the society.
There are several underline problems which leads them to becoming which they don’t deserve. First of all, transgenders are disowned by the families where they are born due to the societal pressures and fears. Such transgenders find refuge and bring up by established transgender communities. Some families don’t come under these societal pressures and decides to treat them like other siblings. In such circumstances, these transgenders face difficulties in adjusting to educational institutions due to mocking and bullying behaviour of fellow students.
Federal and provincial governments can involve transgender leaders from various cities to organize workshops at their community level with the support of government to facilitate this community to learn about steps involved to benefit from special initiatives taken by government for this community
On 31st of March, every year we celebrate International Day of Transgender Visibility to highlight negative and prejudice attitude towards transgender community and make commitments to take steps for protection of rights of this community. The government of Pakistan is taking several initiatives to protect rights of transgender community. They have been given their own identity in the national identity card. They are also given right to vote. The government of Pakistan have introduced legislation like Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018 to safeguard educational, employment and inheritance rights of transgender people and protect them from discriminatory behaviour. Moreover, government is also providing health cards to transgender persons to ensure their healthy life. Similarly, transgender community has been included in the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme for financial inclusion of this community.
The efforts at government level cannot bring change unless we change our behaviours as well. First of all, as a common citizen, we need to understand that they are also creation of Allah. We are no one to pick faults in the creation of Allah. They have also equal status and rights under the constitution of Pakistan. We should not only stop but also shame such people in our surroundings who engage in bullying transgender persons. We should also identify and bring to justice such people who abuse and conduct violence on transgender persons.
There are some recommendations which can be implemented at government level. The government should allocate special scholarships for transgenders at all educational institution in Pakistan to make them literate citizen of Pakistan. There should be 1% quota in all government jobs for transgenders to provide them opportunities to empower and incentivise them to get education. It is also important to encourage transgender persons to have respectable means of earning and provide support to such transgenders who have some skills to set up their businesses. The government can support transgenders to enrol in vocational institutes to acquire some skills.
Another important issue is ignorance of this community about their rights and special initiatives of government taken for them. There should be awareness programme for this community to apprize them about remedies available to them under the law if they face any discriminatory behaviour. It is also necessary to give information about mechanisms available to get their educational and employment rights. In this regard, federal and provincial governments can involve transgender leaders from various cities to organize workshops at their community level with the support of government to facilitate this community to learn about steps involved to benefit from special initiatives taken by government for this community. We need to take steps at every level to empower transgender community financially, socially and psychologically as well.
The writer is a graduate of University of Oxford on Chevening Scholarship. She tweets @zilehumma_1