As a transgender woman in Pakistan, 34-year-old Namkeen* has faced her share of discrimination and harassment. But, despite the odds, she’s determined to uplift the transgender community. As an activist and through her job as a gender equality and social inclusion officer for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Namkeen works to ensure the most marginalized communities in Pakistan receive support and are able to access important services.
We spoke with her about her work for the IRC and what it’s like to be a trans woman living in Pakistan.
What challenges does the trans community face in Pakistan?
The transgender community in Pakistan feels very distant from the mainstream community. Often when we express ourselves, trans people will be kicked out of their family homes and become isolated. With no family, people become vulnerable and face many difficulties.
When a child is forced to leave their house at 15 years old, they have no choice but to leave school then, too. So many trans people aren’t able to get a proper education.
Leaving their community behind also makes it hard to access health facilities. It’s common for trans people to face discrimination from doctors and hospital staff when they try to access health services.
There are stereotypes and taboos in our society: that transgender people work in the sex industy, for instance. Because of these stereotypes, trans people are often unable to find opportunities to make a living.
So the transgender community often experience a lack of livelihood opportunities, health services and education. All of these institutional and behavioral barriers contribute to why trans people feel left behind in society in Pakistan.
What kind of obstacles or discrimination have you faced personally?
When I was young, I experienced harassment and violence, even from my family. In the beginning they would question why I would act a certain way and hammer it into me that I was a boy and should act like one. But my inner essence was that of a woman.
Families and communities can’t understand our gender so they compel us to act like boys. My dad would beat me and question why I would want to wear women's clothing. In school, I had to deal with harassment from the boys there. They’d bully me and call me bad names.
“Your mode of gender expression should not stop you from doing anything that you want to do,” says Namkeen.
Photo: Rubban Shakeel/IRC
I did have my family’s support in terms of education. I earned a masters in political science and a Bachelor of Arts but I faced discrimination and harassment at the same time.
Applying for jobs wasn’t an easy process. Many organizations would say that hiring a transgender person would be dangerous for them. Community and security personnel would object to it.
But now I’m grateful that I can be a role model for other members of the transgender community in Pakistan. I have a strong personality and I have the skills so I can compete with people in mainstream society. My education gave me this confidence.
What is the IRC doing to support you as a staff member and to support the wider trans community in Pakistan?
I'm very proud that I am a part of the IRC as the first trans woman working for the IRC in Pakistan.
After two and a half years in this job, I'm proud to say that I feel very relaxed. The environment is very inclusive and supportive for transgender persons.
I feel very good that I fully participate in every type of activity here in Pakistan. I'm also a member of the diversity, equality and inclusion regional council and a gender champion here in our office. The IRC gives me the opportunity to make the environment more inclusive for other staff members.
Here in the office, all the staff are sensitive and they call me by my preferred name. I've also changed my email ID name into my preferred name, which made me very happy.
Before, I had many problems taking local transport. I faced a lot of harassment from the community. The IRC gave me a special allowance so I can safely travel between my home and office.
The IRC in Pakistan is also working to empower the transgender community in their programming. We have different types of sessions that are arranged to support their specific needs. Since many members of the trans community lack access to education, we empower them with literacy and numeracy skills. We also promote different types of skills like coping with stress and emotions.
“When a transgender person tells me ‘Namkeen did a lot of good for me,’ it gives me motivation and I feel strong that I can do something,” Namkeen says. “So this gives me motivation to do more and more.”
Photo: Rubban Shakeel/IRC
Do your family and friends support you now that you’ve transitioned?
Living in Pashtun culture comes with a lot of heavy stereotypes. So it’s very difficult for our communities to accept us. My family does not accept me being a trans woman. They accept me as a boy, as their son, but they will not accept me as their daughter. So it has been difficult for me.
All these issues revolve around the fact that we, as a society, have to learn more about gender. We have to deliver sessions on gender to these communities. They feel and believe that there are two genders, man and woman, and there is no other gender. So in this Pashtun culture, it is very difficult for people like me to survive. When we live with our own families we cannot identify ourselves as transgender and our gender is never fully able to be expressed.
In our specific transgender culture, I'm very inspired by my guru. A guru is another trans woman who teaches us how to survive in this community. They give us a space. They welcome us. They understand that we’ve left our families and are estranged and never had the option to express ourselves fully. So they teach us what we need to survive. How to do makeup. They give us women’s clothing. The guru helps us in all these ways and takes us under their wing as a parental figure.
“Our guru gives us a space. They welcome us. They understand that we’ve left our families and are estranged and never had the option to express ourselves fully in front of them. So they teach us what we need to survive.” Namkeen’s guru has inspired her to help people.
Photo: Rubban Shakeel/IRC
My guru inspires me to help people: to provide support, mentorship, and to console and help those that come to me. My hope is to help my community in the same way and to lower all the difficulties and hurdles that they face.
The IRC in Pakistan works with Afghans who have had to flee their country. Do you work with young Afghan transgender people, and can you tell us a bit about that experience?
There are a lot of transgender Afghans residing with us because we are very near the border. They have been residing with us for the last 30 years but since the recent situation, many more young transgender women have migrated here. They are residing with us like our sisters.
In our community, we are beyond boundaries. There are no territories. We just see a person who is just like us, so they become a part of our community – irrespective of their passport or their nationality.
What progress have you seen being made for the trans community in Pakistan?
In 2018, Pakistan’s government passed very positive legislation on transgender rights, a law called the “Transgender Protection of Rights Act”. It includes several safeguards for transgender persons, guaranteeing facilities and rights. But on the ground, there is no implementation. If the act was implemented transparently, the situation would be better.
The NGO sector (humanitarian organizations), including the IRC, is doing a lot for the transgender community. They are including the community in their initiatives.
Still, our goals are very far away, and we have to do a lot more to reach them. At the IRC, we need to be sure that in any other projects coming up, whether they are on education or health or something else, we make sure that the transgender community is included. However much we can, we must advocate for transgender rights on several levels. At the government level, and with coordination in the NGO sector.
“I want all the activists to please come forward and join hands with us to do more for our marginalized people in the shape of education, health and other civil rights.”
Photo: Rubban Shakeel/IRC
And what are your hopes for the future?
My hope is for a bright future, not only for myself but for all of the trans community. I am optimistic. I hope that in the near future the transgender community will be empowered and they will have the same rights that the state gives to other citizens. Our aim is that we have an inclusive Pakistan, where there is no discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. Irrespective of religion, creed or caste, I hope we all have equal opportunities.
*First name used to protect Namkeen's privacy
