Respect our rights: Trans activists

The police department’s approach towards transgender people has attracted severe criticism.

For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)

KOCHI: Transgender activists in state outraged at the way police officers treat them. Police chief issues circular asking the force to treat members of the community with respect. Trans activists call the move an eyewash

• Recently, in Tripura, a police crew stopped four transgender persons on their way back from a DJ party at around 11pm. Despite their protests, the make-up artists were escorted to West Agartala women’s police station and stripped in front of both male and female officers, to confirm their gender
• Shivali Kumar, a Mumbai-based transwoman, was allegedly beaten up nearly five years ago for asking for payment from the dance bar she was employed in. Though the 27-year-old’s Aadhaar card indicated her gender, the police filed a case and ordered her to undergo many tests, including DNA analysis, to determine her biological gender
• In Kochi, police officers asked two trans people to undergo sex determination tests when they were trying to report a sexual assault by two men in Aluva. But the police asked the transgender people to submit test results from a hospital confirming they were transwomen.

The police department’s approach towards transgender people has attracted severe criticism. And now, state police chief Anil Kant has sent out a circular demanding members of the police force to treat transgender people with dignity. Police must respect their rights, even while making an arrest, said the circular.

“The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 came into force in January 2020. As per section 2(k) of the Act, a transgender person is one whose psychological gender does not match with the gender he or she was assigned at birth. This applies to both trans-man or trans-woman (regardless of whether they have undergone a sex reassignment surgery or hormone, laser therapies), person with intersex variations, queer or those who identify with tags like kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta. The act prohibits discrimination against such people and recognises the right to be recognised as transgender persons,” reads the circular issued by the state police to all officers in the state.

Illus: express

“There are two categories of statutorily recognised transgender people — those who require a certificate of identity and those who do not, because their details were recorded prior to the act. But there shall be no harassment of transgender people by police officers during the course of an arrest. In cases where a certificate or official document is not available with a transgender person at the time of an arrest, their self-declaration (whether male, female, or neutral) shall be accepted by the police. There shall not be any intimidation or harassment to reveal their sexual orientation or identity,” the circular reads, adding that public ostracism, violence and abuse against transgender people can be prevented only if the police treat them with dignity and respect, to which they are legally entitled.

‘Circular won’t do any good’
The transgender community members termed the move an eyewash to escape several allegations the police are facing now. “They had released such a circular during the term of Lokanath Behra. But we still face harassment from the police officers. Though some of them respect us, many of them still don’t accept us. We don’t think another order from the state police chief will bring justice. The government should step in and introduce special training to the police officers and sensitise them,” said Kerala Pradesh Transgender Congress state president Arunima Manoharan.

“We have been facing mental harassment from police personnel for several years. Instead of helping us, they fixate on whether or not we have received surgery. What is the point in posing such personal questions? If there is a law, all they have to do is to follow it. Instead of issuing a warning, the police chief should punish officers who offended transgender persons,” said Avanthika, a Transgender Justice board member.

Transgender Congress Ernakulam district president Anna Raju said if justice is delayed, they will be forced to take extreme steps. “Our future generations will blame us if we don’t respond. If the police are not ready to give us justice, we will be forced to die by suicide. That may open their eyes,” said Anna.

THE LAW
A transgender person is one whose psychological gender does not match with the gender he or she was assigned at birth. This applies to both trans-man or trans-woman (regardless of whether they have undergone a sex reassignment surgery or hormone, laser therapies), person with intersex variations, queer or those who identify with tags like kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.