Transgender people will now be able to serve as regular duty officers as part of the Sindh police even though it could be months before the first transgender police officers are hired.
This is an important milestone for the transgender community in a country which extended legal recognition to the transgender people in 2009 but many forms of discrimination and lack of opportunities still persist.
While some transgender people have achieved major milestones such as becoming the first transgender news anchor or fashion model of the country their entry into the police force would be a major development for the community because of the unwarranted harassment the community suffers at hands of both the police and in often cases the general public.
“Police behaviour and their complaint mechanism is not trans-friendly. I will try to make police trans-friendly and educate colleagues when I join the police,” said Shahzadi Rai, a 29-year-old transgender activist who hopes to join the force.
“When we go to lodge any report at the police station, their behavior and questions hurt us. They don’t ask questions about the case, but about our gender,” Rai said.
“We will make them part of Sindh police,” Syed Kaleem Imam, inspector general of the Sindh police told a news outlet in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.
“They are good God-gifted people. Citizens like us. We should stand by them,” said Imam, who as a junior officer became aware of the discrimination against the community.
“We will give them space, facilitate them so that they can come into the mainstream,” said the Sindh police chief.
