Hundreds of transgender activists demonstrated this Sunday in the Pakistani city of Karachi to denounce the growing wave of violence and aggression against this community.
The Sindh Moorat March, the first of its kind in the history of the conservative Pakistani society, brought together a large number of transgender rights activists.
The initiative coincides with attempts by conservative clerics and politicians to overturn a trans rights law they consider un-Islamic.
The law was passed in 2018 amid praise from other countries as it recognizes individuals the right to choose their gender identity. Those who reject it claim it opens the door to same-sex marriage.
«The government must criminalize transphobic hate speech and safeguard the right to self-perceived gender identity,» stressed one of the participating activists, Shahzadi Rai. Rai also called for the criminalization of abandonment of trans children.
«Hundreds of transgender people are murdered and raped every year, but the state seems to be oblivious,» lamented another activist, Nayab Ali.
More than 1,500 transgender people have been victims of rape, assault or intimidation since 2016, according to Pakistan Police data.
