By Aitzaz Ibrahim & Mateen Ali
Text by Xari Jalil
In a big leap forward, 40 transgenders have been appointed as ‘Victim Support Officers’ in police service centers across Punjab – four of them in Lahore – to help eliminate discrimination and prejudice against transgenders in society and to bridge the gaps between police and the transgender community.
Zanaya Chaudhry and Masooma Ali are among the trans women in Lahore, both of whom are working as VSOs at the Police Service Center in Liberty. Voicepk talks to them about their experiences and what challenges they face.
LAHORE
It was not an easy journey for Zanaya Chaudhry or Masooma Ali to be where they are today. But hard work and dedication has paid off and today they are seen working as Victim Support Officers at the Liberty police service center. In Lahore a total of four transgenders have been given these jobs. One other Kashish Khan has been stationed at the Data Darbar Service Center while Azna Khanzadi is serving at the Laari Aada Service Center.
For Zanaya it is work that she has strived for. She says she has been active for the rights and welfare of her community for many years. Talking to Voicepk, Zanaya says that she had not given much attention when she was not in the police, but since she joined the police force her position in her community has improved. She says that after being recruited as an officer in the police, a new journey of her life had begun, she has gained self-confidence, and she wants to do something for society, especially her community. She said that the journey to reach this place was not easy for them, but they endured all the difficulties to reach this point.
“We receive a variety of cases from people who have been victims of crime, to those who are seeking something as simple as the birth registration of their child,” says Zanaya. “Vulnerable people are usually very afraid of going to the police station to seek help. But in this center, it is apparent to whoever walks in that the place is friendly and approachable, where people will accept you and not judge you. The staff is trained and sensitized.”
Describing her duties as VSO, Zanaya said that her job is to resolve the incoming cases of women and the trans-community on a case to case basis.
Traumatic childhood
Despite the Punjab Police’s efforts to eliminate prejudice against transgenders, the trans community often faces taunts from the public and the police.
“I never thought there was anything wrong with me,” says Zanaya. “It was others who made sure to tell me that I was ‘too feminine’ – I walk differently, and I was like a ‘khussra’ (transgender). I on the other hand had always thought of myself as a female. It was my parents who thought of what would happen to me in my future when I would be more vulnerable to problems in my life.”
Zanaya’s parents began pushing her to become more man-like. “It was always like, ‘don’t walk that way’, ‘speak in a louder voice’, ‘don’t wave your hands when you talk’.
School was similar.
“They would let me enjoy my art classes but whenever there was sports, they would push me away [from the activities]. The teacher thought I would not be able to do well. I play badminton quite well now, but I still feel that gap that I used to feel back then when it comes to sports.”
Worse, some of the male teachers would even sexually harass her and others like her. “You could not tell whether it was ‘good touch’ or ‘bad touch,” she says.
“The type of touch is being discussed only now, especially after the Zainab case,” says Zanaya.
A Societal Problem
The biggest problem that the trans-community faces is the one related to their identity.
“We are tax-paying citizens of the country,” she says. “But we find that we cannot present ourselves as we are. So I have tried to work on that a lot. We must explain to our community that our work does not only revolve around begging and prostitution. We must involve ourselves in other kinds of work and improve our lives,” she adds. “Even today there are many educational institutions which do not even have a check-box for a third gender. They do not include us in any policies or anything and they say that the khwaja sirah community does not study. How are we supposed to study? They say they accept us – but they don’t.”
Society is not ready to digest this kind of reality, says Zanaya. So there is a lot of time for them to change.
“At this point even women are still fighting for their rights,” she says. “Interaction between people is very important. Today if we are holding talks with cisgender people – males and females – its because we want that gap between us to end.
“Many of the people who come here, sometimes with their children, talk to us very nicely and politely and they are happy too to see us here,” says Zanaya. “They are happy that we are not outside on the roads and instead are working and even facilitating them. Women who are uncomfortable with men find it easier to open up with us.
‘Don’t ever leave your family’
Meanwhile, Masooma says that life took a strange turn when she took up police work.
Masooma Ali has been working as a Vocational Support Officer at the Liberty Police Service Center for a year now. Before this, she worked in a private company.
She says that initially she faced difficulties, but with time, people’s attitudes have improved.
“The relationship between transgenders and the police is similar to a dog seeing someone with a stone in their hand,” she says. “Even if a police van passes by, khwaja sirahs tend to hide. Thankfully though we have sensitized our community to a large extent making them understand that the police mean well most of the time
We become victims of violence from our homes,” says Masooma. “My message is that whatever happens, people should not leave their homes – whatever they must do to live there, they should do it. We have the same right to a family and a home as do our siblings.”