Tran women protest in Peshawar (L) and Sumera, a student who was attacked on 18 August. | Photo: Facebook/Trans Action Pakistan
Pakistan’s trans community has protested in the streets to demand better police protection and action after another trans woman was violently murdered and dismembered.
Sajid urf Nazo became the 62nd trans woman murdered in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) region since 2015. On Thursday 17 August, her alleged attacker ‘brutally tortured and mutilated’ her. He then allegedly shot Nazo and stuffed her body into a sack.
Police arrested Mohammed Farooq and another man for Nazo’s murder. Farooq confessed to shooting Nazo and chopping up her body with an axe. Police told media they found Farooq trying to dispose of the sack which contained human organs and genitals.
Nazo’s violent murder is just one of many committed against the trans community in Peshawar. This year, 479 cases of violence against trans women have already been recorded in the Peshawar region alone.
Farooq’s arrest was rare as many culprits who commit crime against the trans community go unpunished.
Trans women have had enough in Pakistan. | Photo: Facebook/Trans Action Pakistan
Enough is enough
Tired of seeing the violence committed against their sisters and continually living in fear, the trans community staged a powerful demonstration in KP’s capital, Peshawar.
They protested outside the Peshawar Press Club chanting, ‘we want protection, we want respect and rights’.
‘This is unacceptable [there have been] 479 cases of violence and 8 Murders of transwomen in KP in 2018 only and the silence of KP Govt [government] is criminal and shameful. We… demand justice,’ Trans Action Pakistan said in a statement.
Prominent trans activists lead the protests against trans violence. | Photo: Facebook/Trans Action Pakistan
The protesters called for a government to install a trans representative to better advocate for the community. They also called for the government to expedite the implementation of its comprehensive trans rights Act.
Prominent trans activist, Qamar Naseem said beyond violence, trans people face discrimination on a daily basis and struggle to find work.
‘The human rights violations perpetrated against people who are transgender in K-P is the result of highly machismo, conservative and transphobic culture which ostracizes and stigmatizes transgender people, posing a serious threat to their health, security, life expectancy and employment prospects,’ Naseem told The Tribune.
‘This community is vulnerable without legal protections, they are at a greater risk of violence, sexual and substance abuse. Most have little access to health services. Without recognition, many cases of violence and murder go undocumented.’
