To:

From:
Date:
Subject: Introduction and Implementation of policies for the welfare of the Intersex community.

Executive Summary

This policy memorandum aims to underscore the abhorrent dehumanization, the abominable
demonization, and the horrifying lack of representation surrounding the Pakistani intersex
community. Despite the Shariah law recognizing and supporting said people, there still exists a
rampant epidemic of mistreatment and downright abuse in Pakistan. The nearly half a million
population of intersex people in Punjab are victims of unjust social stigmas and abject poverty.
One can summarize their lives as ridden with discrimination and marginalization to an extent
where begging, prostitution, or vulgar dances (mujras) are the only viable career paths.
Pakistan, a signatory to several human rights conventions which are in relevance to the intersex
community, has systematically failed to protect the rights of the intersex community. The Trans
Protection Act of 2018, with near to no implementation, only provides limited protection to this
community and as a result, they suffer discrimination and violence in many spheres of their life.
Viewed through a lens of apathy and sheer disgust, they merely are second-class citizens,
bereft of any basic human rights. These aforementioned points call for an immediate change in
the status quo for the amelioration of the intersex community. The following paragraphs, by first
investigating in-depth the conditions of the community, will present possible and viable policies
such as the proper implementation of quotas provided by the constitution and further
introduction of welfare acts for the betterment of the intersex people of Pakistan.

BACKGROUND AND KEY ISSUES

“The dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah.76 He creates whatever He
pleases. He grants females to whomever He pleases and males to whomever He pleases, or
grants them a mix of males and females, and causes whomever He pleases to be barren. He is
All-Knowing, All-Powerful.” Surah Shura (42:49-50)

Even though the Quran recognized intersex people 1400 years ago it was not before 2013 that
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan recognized them as a separate gender identity. Chief Justice
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary in 2013, 2 years after our fellow neighbor India did in 2011,
passed the act recognizing transsex people. Under this, the intersex community had to be
issued B Forms, CNICs and be treated as equal citizens of Pakistan, enjoying the same
constitutional rights. But no law was passed to legally provide equality to transgender people
and to safeguard their rights until 2018’s Transgenders Person Act that too with its minimal
implementation failed to protect the intersex community from vile and nefarious acts of hatred
and contempt. In 2018, just in a single province- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there were reportedly
479 violent incidents towards intersex people. On 9th September 2020, a prominent
transgender activist Gul Panra was shot six times at point-blank range along with another
intersex woman, Chahat, who was moved to Khayber Teaching Hospital. In 2019, Shama, a
transgender journalist, was brutally raped by nine men in one of Pakistan's cities, Peshawar.
Nayab Ali, one of the first intersex to participate in the general elections 2018, was sexually
assaulted and attacked by acid just for being Intersex. .Pakistan’s first law recognizing
transgender people as equal citizens with penalties for discrimination and violence against them
is still pending approval in parliament. To further exacerbate the situation, Pakistan only
recognizes a fraction of the total population of the intersex community. Pakistan’s Health
Ministry, in 2015, Claimed that there are about 150 000 intersex people in the country but when
the intersex people were first counted in the census of 2017 only 10,418 people were recorded
out of a population of nearly 208 million. Ayesha, a 27 years old intersex woman in Lahore,
states that the intersex population is “disturbingly” undercounted in Pakistan’s recent census.
According to the head of Khawaja Sira Society, a Lahore-based group working for the rights of
intersex people contends that in Punjab alone there are around 400 000-500 000 intersex
people. The undercounting of transgender people has serious ramifications as the government
would theoretically provide support for a small number of the total population. If the correct
numbers of their population aren’t reflected then it will affect policies to support their share of
education and jobs. Furthermore, they lack representation in the National and Provincial
assemblies to raise voice for the policies to support their education, jobs and protect their
interest. To merely survive in the languishing economy of Pakistan, they are forced into the
precarious sex work industry. Furthermore, In the 73 years of this country, it was only as early
as 2018 that we had our first intersex media, news anchor. In the entertainment industry i.e
movies, dramas, or seasons, their lack of representation is appalling. These people have real
talents, as seen by their part in Coke Studio Season 11 in 2018, which our country is wasting by
not providing them with the required opportunities at the basic level. Things have become worse
for these people as COVID-19 spread which resulted in the Government of Pakistan
implementing lockdown throughout the country. The community which was already reduced to
begging, dancing, and sex work now has no way to earn their daily bread. Though the
government announced the Ehsaas Program to help the needy people in Pakistan, only 3% of
the intersex community received any form of aid. After all this treatment this unfortunate fact
does not come as a surprise that suicide rates are significantly higher for intersex people. In a
developed country like Australia, according to a study done in 2015, it was found that “42% of
participants had thought about self-harm and 26% had engaged in it; 60% had thought about
suicide and 19% had attempted it – specifically on the basis of issues related to having a
congenital sex variation”. One can only imagine the suicide rate in an underdeveloped country
like Pakistan where opportunities and the quality of life is abysmal and horrendous as compared
to other countries. Adding to all this there are several other issues in the Transgenders Act of
2018 one of which is its lack of penal provisions in the act which makes it harder for people to
follow and makes it difficult to implement. There is only one section that sets out any
punishment and that too only for people who force intersex persons to beg. People have been
socialized to have an attitude of disgust towards this community. The 2018 General Election
forms only had the option of male and female and did not have a 3rd option which was a clear
violation of the Transgenders Act but no actions were taken.
 POLICY OPTIONS

The Trans Protection Act of 2018 was a big step to support the rights of the Intersex community
of Pakistan but for proper inclusion of, acceptance of, and ensuring the basic human rights of
the intersex community the gov needs to take a number of measures to address the gravity of
the situation.

To ensure and assist the proper implementation of the Trans Protection Act the Government
should take the following steps:

1: The Government should ensure that the assigned quotas of the Jobs which Intersex People
deserve are given to the Intersex Community. It can be argued that trans people are less
competent than normal people for the jobs but it has to be kept in mind that there is no way that
the intersex community can compete with the cis community for jobs, education, and other
merit-based positions as they are not provided the basic resources at ground level. Providing
them with basic jobs which may not require too much skill is a viable option and the only way to
ensure that they aren’t reduced to begging and situations where they cannot earn their daily
bread.

2: Awareness Campaigns should be launched to spread awareness about the rights of the
Intersex community and the community itself should be educated about their rights so that they
can take legal actions if their rights are violated. Competent Government Representatives
should be sent to the communities of Intersex people where they teach them about their rights
and show them the support of the government. However, due to disgust towards this
community, lack of professionals for the job, and people being scared of associating themselves
in any way with the intersex community because of the violence which may incur with them, the
government representatives may not volunteer for the job.

3: Policies should be made to take strict actions against the people who violate the 2013
Transgender Act (Which made the intersex community equal citizens of the country and
regarded them as the 3rd gender) in any way including the violation during the 2018 General
Elections and Ehsaas Support Program. Discrimination of any sort is also a violation of Article
25 of the Constitution of 1973 which is the right of Equality in Pakistan so this matter should not
be taken lightly in any manner. If discriminatory acts in schools, workplaces, and the public are
penalized with strict ramifications, it would be a significant step towards eradicating inequality in
our country.

4: The Law, penalties for discrimination and violence against intersex, which is pending in the
Parliament should be brought up and passed as soon as possible. This way they will be treated
as an equal citizen and their safety can be ensured however most of the violence takes place in
private isolated areas by influential and privileged people for which these intersex people dance
and work so it will is difficult for law enforcement agencies to micromanage to such extent.

Furthermore, following new policies should be implemented to ensure equal representation of

intersex people at all stages.

1: Quotas should be established in educational institutes and for the intersex community. Along
with this special educational institutes should be established for their education. This will be a
major step to fill the gap between them and the cis community so that later on in life the intersex
community can compete with the cis community for merit-based positions. Once the structural
inequalities have been eradicated to an extent, only then the provisions of the Act focusing on
formal equality can make a valid difference for the community. However, the Government will
have to allocate large funds for these projects which the government may not be willing to
invest. Adding to this the corruption in our country may lead the government to allocate funds
but ultimately no schools being established due to mismanagement of funds.

2: The Gov should ensure the representation of the intersex community in the National and
Provincial Assemblies as these are the key places to raise voice and bring up policies to protect
one’s interest. However, since there is a lack of acceptance of this community in the society
there may be some serious opposition to this idea but the government should take such steps
keeping in view the betterment of the intersex community.

3: The rights of different communities should be taught and made a compulsory part of our
Educational Syllabus as this will make people more acceptable towards the intersex community.
It's always hard to break the stereotypes of society and bringing acceptance is a slow process
that may take decades but it's a really crucial part and everyone needs to know that intersex
people are normal people like everyone else.

Final Comments

The 2018 Trans Protection Act, a major step towards providing the intersex community their
deserved rights, made Pakistan the first country in Asia and one of few in the world to recognize
the rights of intersex people but only recognition is not enough. The implementation of all these
laws must be ensured but the most important part is to spread awareness among the people
that they are just like us. To stop all kinds of discrimination against them the people must realize
that these people are normal and their gender is a result of something they don’t even have a
control on. Once they are fully considered as a normal part of society than only can all the laws
be implemented to the full. Spreading awareness may be in the form of Educational Programs
on tv, seminars but most importantly the schools where our new generation is being raised.
Education Minister Mr. Shafqat Mehmood should ensure that the Rights of Intersex (along with
other minorities) are made a part of the national curriculum so that upcoming generations see
them as their equal fellows instead of viewing them with disgust and second class citizens. Our
society is not welcoming to new ideas so these types of fundamental and crucial changes
sometimes need decades but this reluctance of activism from our community is the root cause
of some of the most debilitating problems of the society and the only way to bring sustainable
change is to spread awareness. No matter how many policies we make until and unless we are
not able to develop a sense of equality and acceptance for the intersex community all the
problems will keep on coming back. Though this problem should have been addressed 70 years
ago, there is still time for rectification. I implore our human rights minister and our education
minister to work with intersex activists and spread awareness and implement the
aforementioned policies so as to give the intersex community equality at last.

Bibliography

1: https://www.reuters.com/article/pakistan-transgender-census-idUSL8N1ME398
2:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Transgender_Persons_(Protection_of_Rights)_Act,_2018#:~:text=The%20Transgender
%20Persons%20
3:http://islamicstudies.info/reference.php?sura=42&verse=49-50
4:https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-transgender-activist-shot-dead-in-
peshawar-netizens-demand-justiceforgulpanra-1.1599665365005
5:https://ihra.org.au/30313/intersex-stories-statistics-australia/
6:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/01/with-transgender-rights-pakistan-has-an-
opportunity-to-be-a-path-breaker/
7:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/9/pakistan-passes-landmark-transgender-rights-law
8:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJNjCAijJuQ&ab_channel=JINNAHNEWSNETWORK
9:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsgyRJEiYWI&ab_channel=ZuhaibRamzanBhatti
10: https://www.dawn.com/news/1389871
.