The Pakistani Minister of Human Rights claims on Twitter: “The Government of Pakistan has become the first country in the world to include a legally recognized Transgender woman, Ms Aisha Mughal, in its National Delegation at the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).” This is a historic event for the UN and it is even more important that Pakistan broadens internationally the idea that transgender women are like any other woman: a banality that unfortunately is not widely accepted.
Aisha Mughal is an expert in gender studies and taught in a Pakistani university. Even before her designation to the UN forum, she was appointed as councilwoman and coordinator for transgender rights in the Minister of Human Rights. For example, she took part in writing and introducing innovative guidelines that instruct the right behaviour the law enforcement has to have when it relates to transgender people.
Achieving equality
Aisha Mughal highlights that it is not her personal victory, but the result of a series of battles fought by a great movement. She is not the only woman who has achieved important roles in Pakistan: “We have a transgender TV anchor, a transgender employee in National Database And Regulatory Authority (NADRA), a makeup artist in a TV channel and many other shining examples.” We can also add a set of laws and regulations that promote positive discrimination, helping change the situation in Pakistan.
Nevertheless we cannot forget that for a lot of transgender people, especially those who live in a rural area or were born in a lower-middle-class family, there is still a dramatic situation: generally, they survive by begging, sex-work or dancing at ceremonies. This situation is evolving, but there are dramatic conflicts, and it is well shown in “Allah Loves Equality”, a documentary written and shot by Wajahat Abbas Kazmi and promoted by Il Grande Colibrì.
Pier Cesare Notaro
translation by Alessandra Desiderio
©2020 Il Grande Colibrì
immagine: Il Grande Colibrì
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