“Down a grimy alleyway in Rawalpindi, in the heart of Pakistan’s military establishment, a striking figure tweaked her makeup and squirted a dash of perfume under her arms.
Life as a hijra, as Pakistan’s transgender minority is known, can be tough, said 21-year-old Alisha, recounting tales of extortion, sexual violence and predatory policemen. But of late things have started to improve.
The government has offered help, the hijras’ plight has come into the public eye, and even the police are showing a little respect.
“They call us the chief justice’s darlings,” she said.
An unlikely revolution is stirring among Pakistan’s transgender community.”
Read more at The Guardian
Kind of sad we still have this intolerance. This is why education is important. Before people make their opinionated judgements on a person, they need to take all the information into account.
The Hijra community in PAK have long lived in the shadows,and that is where they should stay. You see gangs of them roaming around harassing people for money
That is incredibly cool!
I, personally, am a Female-to-Male transsexual but I\’ve always found hijras to be incredibly fascinating. The amount of power they have in terms of local mysticism is mental and really interesting.
Wonderful step.
Hi Derren… A fan from Pakistan =D
heh…
I truly do not understand how the police can ‘spit’ on these men on one hand and then go on to have sex with them (through rape)?! The double standards are shocking. They must really be full of fear of their own sexuality and hate for themselves and their urges to be able to qualify their actions. How twisted.
Of course we have a primal in-built mechanism that’s wary of anyone ‘different’ approaching our ‘tribe’, but we are surely we are developed enough to be able to assess any perceived danger? What the Hell danger does a bunch of men in spangly saris pose?