Denying human rights to transgender persons is to strip away their status and dignity as human beings. The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees these universal rights; Article 19 provides for freedom of expression. Article 25 guarantees equality of all citizens; in addition, Articles 25(1) and 26(1) prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, enacted in 2018, is the first of its kind within Asia, and surprisingly one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in the world when it comes to the rights of transgender persons. For example, a first world country such as Finland has only enacted legislation which recognizes the rights of the transgender persons in a similar way in 2023.
Under the 2018 Act, a person has a right to be recognized as per their gender identity (Section 3(1)). Gender identity is defined in the act as innermost and individual sense of self (Section 2 (f)). This grants a transgender person the ability to get their CNIC, CRC, Driving License and Passport according to their gender identity (Section 3 (3)), or change name or gender identity on an existing document.
The skeleton for the 2018 Act was provided by Supreme Court of Pakistan (Khaki vs Rawalpindi) declaring transgender persons as equals in society in 2009; allowing a column for a third gender. Further, in a landmark 2012 judgement, PLD 2013 Supreme Court 188, the Supreme Court enforced rights such as to vote, and to inheritance.
The 2018 Act provides further safeguards such as protection from physical and mental forms of harassment (Section 2 (h)) at both home and public places (Section 5). It also gives the government powers to construct special facilities for transgender persons for medical and educational purposes (Section 6 (a)) and to provide separate jail cells (Section 6 (b)). In addition, the 2018 Act calls to encourage transgender persons to start small businesses using micro financing (Section 6 (e)).
Effects of the 2018 Act are widespread, as it allows a foundation, allowing other rights to be built upon. The Act is truly progressive in that it recognizes and enshrines even the smallest rights that cisgender persons may not realize the significance of in daily life, but could not live without. The rights to drive their cars, or open bank accounts for example, the ability to inherit from their kin (Section 7). Transgender persons may seek employment (Section 8) and education (Section 9) without discrimination (Section 4). The Act also provides a right to health with non-discrimination and relevant curriculum (Section 12). An identity card is to a human, what paper is to a pen, allowing transgender persons to write their life beyond misery.
The foundation set by the Act has allowed for other reforms, including the extension of the Benazir Income Support Program to transgender women who are now also entitled to a stipend. The Act has also allowed for the establishment of a Transgender Protection Centre in Islamabad. A facilitation centre for transgender persons was also established in District West Karachi, although the unit suffers from a jurisdiction problem whereas it may only be utilized by transgender persons in district West. It is hoped the success of these centres leads to similar facilities for transgender persons across the country.
Regrettably however, while the Act provides for criminal punishment for employing, compelling or using transgender persons for begging purposes (Section 17), it is otherwise lacking in providing appropriate procedures for penal operations against those committing offences against transgender persons on basis of their identity. The Act needs a more comprehensive framework to make it effective in truly tackling gender-based hate crimes.
It is important to note that the current bias towards the binary genders in society only exists as an aftereffect of colonization. Before colonization, the members of the now discriminated transgender community were respected individuals in society, holding positions in the royal courts, as well as the military. They held an open presence in now modern-day Pakistani cities. The British criminally penalized the existence of the transgender community, labelling them a criminal tribe and carried out a mass project for the complete “extinction” of the community through the use of propaganda backed legislation.
Ironically, the colonial project’s aims have now been co-opted by right-wing political parties as a battle strategy in guaranteeing electoral success. Having already proposed extremely degrading amendments, which build bureaucratic roadblocks to access identity legally such as medical certification, religious and right-wing political parties seek to grossly violate the bodily integrity of transgender people, disregarding modern medical stances on the subject.
The political parties lacking any actual program of reforms subscribe to an us vs them ideology and are wholly dedicated to implanting this virulent and hateful thought in the minds of troubled Pakistani middle and lower classes, to fashion a vote bank by creating a common target of an underprivileged community. In the imagination of the conservative right, the perpetual decline of Pakistan’s society and economy can be solved by stripping away the fundamental human rights of the transgender community. What is shameful is that these political parties propose no substantive set of reforms to address actual structural issues, such as stalled literacy rates, increasing wealth inequalities and inadequate police action in the prevention of crimes. All they want to peddle is hate.
The implementation of the proposed amendments would mean pulling away the foundation upon which the structure to provide the transgender community a chance at equality in society is being built upon, centuries past. Taking identity away from transgender persons takes away both their educational and employment prospects, and encourages mass discrimination.
This has the twin effect of pushing transgender persons into underpaid and exploitive work as a means of subsistence level survival, such as begging for criminal syndicates. Scenarios akin to human slavery will arise just because a person’s gender is different from “society’s” normative conception of gender, mainly due to senseless bigotry and prejudice.
The rights prescribed in the Act are protected by our Constitution, and it is incumbent upon the judiciary to vehemently take charge in the protection of transgender persons, especially if the Senate again proves itself to purely be a cog in the political machinery.
Recently, the Sindh High Court has given us a reason to believe in the judiciary in its response to the petition against the release of Joyland (C.P No. D-7170 of 2022). When dismissing the petition, the court stated, “Suffice it to say that transgender persons are equal citizens of Pakistan in all respects and the stories of their life, their struggles, and their human relationships deserve equal space and recognition.”
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, enacted in 2018, is the first of its kind within Asia, and surprisingly one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in the world when it comes to the rights of transgender persons. For example, a first world country such as Finland has only enacted legislation which recognizes the rights of the transgender persons in a similar way in 2023.
Under the 2018 Act, a person has a right to be recognized as per their gender identity (Section 3(1)). Gender identity is defined in the act as innermost and individual sense of self (Section 2 (f)). This grants a transgender person the ability to get their CNIC, CRC, Driving License and Passport according to their gender identity (Section 3 (3)), or change name or gender identity on an existing document.
The skeleton for the 2018 Act was provided by Supreme Court of Pakistan (Khaki vs Rawalpindi) declaring transgender persons as equals in society in 2009; allowing a column for a third gender. Further, in a landmark 2012 judgement, PLD 2013 Supreme Court 188, the Supreme Court enforced rights such as to vote, and to inheritance.
The 2018 Act provides further safeguards such as protection from physical and mental forms of harassment (Section 2 (h)) at both home and public places (Section 5). It also gives the government powers to construct special facilities for transgender persons for medical and educational purposes (Section 6 (a)) and to provide separate jail cells (Section 6 (b)). In addition, the 2018 Act calls to encourage transgender persons to start small businesses using micro financing (Section 6 (e)).
Effects of the 2018 Act are widespread, as it allows a foundation, allowing other rights to be built upon. The Act is truly progressive in that it recognizes and enshrines even the smallest rights that cisgender persons may not realize the significance of in daily life, but could not live without. The rights to drive their cars, or open bank accounts for example, the ability to inherit from their kin (Section 7). Transgender persons may seek employment (Section 8) and education (Section 9) without discrimination (Section 4). The Act also provides a right to health with non-discrimination and relevant curriculum (Section 12). An identity card is to a human, what paper is to a pen, allowing transgender persons to write their life beyond misery.
The foundation set by the Act has allowed for other reforms, including the extension of the Benazir Income Support Program to transgender women who are now also entitled to a stipend. The Act has also allowed for the establishment of a Transgender Protection Centre in Islamabad. A facilitation centre for transgender persons was also established in District West Karachi, although the unit suffers from a jurisdiction problem whereas it may only be utilized by transgender persons in district West. It is hoped the success of these centres leads to similar facilities for transgender persons across the country.
Regrettably however, while the Act provides for criminal punishment for employing, compelling or using transgender persons for begging purposes (Section 17), it is otherwise lacking in providing appropriate procedures for penal operations against those committing offences against transgender persons on basis of their identity. The Act needs a more comprehensive framework to make it effective in truly tackling gender-based hate crimes.
It is important to note that the current bias towards the binary genders in society only exists as an aftereffect of colonization. Before colonization, the members of the now discriminated transgender community were respected individuals in society, holding positions in the royal courts, as well as the military. They held an open presence in now modern-day Pakistani cities. The British criminally penalized the existence of the transgender community, labelling them a criminal tribe and carried out a mass project for the complete “extinction” of the community through the use of propaganda backed legislation.
The political parties lacking any actual program of reforms subscribe to an us vs them ideology and are wholly dedicated to implanting this virulent and hateful thought in the minds of troubled Pakistani middle and lower classes, to fashion a vote bank by creating a common target of an underprivileged community.
Ironically, the colonial project’s aims have now been co-opted by right-wing political parties as a battle strategy in guaranteeing electoral success. Having already proposed extremely degrading amendments, which build bureaucratic roadblocks to access identity legally such as medical certification, religious and right-wing political parties seek to grossly violate the bodily integrity of transgender people, disregarding modern medical stances on the subject.
The political parties lacking any actual program of reforms subscribe to an us vs them ideology and are wholly dedicated to implanting this virulent and hateful thought in the minds of troubled Pakistani middle and lower classes, to fashion a vote bank by creating a common target of an underprivileged community. In the imagination of the conservative right, the perpetual decline of Pakistan’s society and economy can be solved by stripping away the fundamental human rights of the transgender community. What is shameful is that these political parties propose no substantive set of reforms to address actual structural issues, such as stalled literacy rates, increasing wealth inequalities and inadequate police action in the prevention of crimes. All they want to peddle is hate.
The implementation of the proposed amendments would mean pulling away the foundation upon which the structure to provide the transgender community a chance at equality in society is being built upon, centuries past. Taking identity away from transgender persons takes away both their educational and employment prospects, and encourages mass discrimination.
This has the twin effect of pushing transgender persons into underpaid and exploitive work as a means of subsistence level survival, such as begging for criminal syndicates. Scenarios akin to human slavery will arise just because a person’s gender is different from “society’s” normative conception of gender, mainly due to senseless bigotry and prejudice.
The rights prescribed in the Act are protected by our Constitution, and it is incumbent upon the judiciary to vehemently take charge in the protection of transgender persons, especially if the Senate again proves itself to purely be a cog in the political machinery.
Recently, the Sindh High Court has given us a reason to believe in the judiciary in its response to the petition against the release of Joyland (C.P No. D-7170 of 2022). When dismissing the petition, the court stated, “Suffice it to say that transgender persons are equal citizens of Pakistan in all respects and the stories of their life, their struggles, and their human relationships deserve equal space and recognition.”