Draft guidelines for police engagement with transgenders presented

Islamabad : Ministry of Human Rights on Tuesday presented the draft guidelines for police engagement with transgender persons to the police officials from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi at a workshop organised to sensitise police on implementation of laws related to transgender.

The draft guidelines detailed the procedures for law enforcement agencies such as the appropriate form of addressing transgender persons to procedures pertaining to detention and stop and search.

Federal Minister, Ministry of Human Rights Dr. Shireen Mazari presided the workshop. Speaking on this occasion, she said that the Government, through the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR), is keen to ensure the full participation and promotion of transgender persons’ rights.

She said that the government took special initiatives to ensure rights of transgender community which include health cards and special wards in PIMS hospital. “We have also prepared information material on transgender rights for public awareness,” she said.

Fulfilling their commitment to further the rights of transgender persons, the MoHR, in collaboration with Huqooq-e-Pakistan, conducted a Gender Sensitization Workshop “Charting the Way Ahead for Police Engagement with Transgender Persons.”

The purpose of the workshop was to present Ministry of Human Rights’s draft guidelines for police engagement with transgender persons to the representatives of police department. The purpose was also to solicit feedback and comments from police officials in order to finalize the guidelines.

Assisted by prominent members of the transgender community including representatives from the National Implementation Committee for the Rights of the Transgender persons, the workshop was designed to seek comments and feedback from police officials in order to formally finalize and adopt the guidelines.

“Keeping in line with international best practices, these guidelines chart out the appropriate treatment of transgender persons who encounter police officials” said Aisha Mughal, Transgender rights Expert and Focal person at the Ministry of Human Rights.

“This is the first of many steps MoHR intends to take in order to fulfil its commitment to the transgender community and ensure the implementation of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018” said Rabiya Javeri Agha, Secretary, Ministry of Human Rights.