Shariat Court Orders Ministry To Set Up Transgender Protection Centre

Shariat Court Orders Ministry To Set Up Transgender Protection Centre
The Federal Shariat Court has directed the Ministry of Human Rights to take urgent steps to establish a protection centre the for underage and elderly transgender person to ensure provision of their rights to them.

The order was issued today (Jan 10) by a two-judge bench of the court in its hearing of a set of petitions against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018.

As the hearing today, the court observed that the government 'wasn't doing enough' to provide the community with its due rights, as it expressed dissatisfaction at the ministry's report regarding the steps being taken.

The chief justice directed the officials of the ministry to consult with relevant authorities on setting up the building and deriving the standard operating procedures for the same.

According to a recent report, a culture of impunity and repression remained prevalent in Pakistan through 2022. Religious minorities were subject to persecution, citizens forcibly disappeared, transgenders were killed and millions continued to live without protection from the active threat of militancy in Pakistan.

Climate crisis induced floods and heat waves made citizens even more vulnerable to human rights violations. The ruling elite’s focus on amassing power exacerbated the political instability, with severe impacts on the common Pakistani.

Despite the change in regime and the formation of a fragile government by the ruling coalition of the PDM in early April, the status of the marginalized did not improve, and reprisals for defending human rights did not come to a halt.