A Seminar on “Equality for Transgender” was organized by the students of Social Work Department, Lahore Collage for Women University with the collaboration of Sathi Foundation on 28th March, 2022 at IT Seminar Hall.
Trans people who express their gender identity from an early age are often rejected by their families. Those who express their gender identities later in life often face rejection by mainstream society and social service institutions, as they go about undoing gender socialization. So keeping in mind the problems of transgender, the students of Social Work Department, Lahore Collage for Women University, Lahore conducted a seminar on this topic.
The detail of seminar is given below:
Ms Laila Naz (executive director of sathi foundation), Ms Zanaya chaudhery (Transgender’s rights Activist and human rights defender), Ms Chikki Ali (Administrator and finance manager), and Ms Areeba Ali (Community Activist) were presented as speakers. The event was attended by the large number of students along with the faculty members.
Ms Laila Naz (executive director of sathi foundation), explained about Transgender violence, murder and her past experiences.
Ms Zanaya chaudhery (Transgender’s rights Activist and human rights defender) threw light on the human rights law and transgender community. Chikki Ali (Administrator and finance manager) discussed the importance of education, opportunities and its relation to socio economic empowerment of transgender. Trans students experience resentment, prejudice, and threatening environments in schools, which leads to significant drop-out rates and very few trans people reached to higher education.
Workplace-related research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) individuals reveals that trans workers are the most marginalized and are excluded from gainful employment, with discrimination occurring at all phases of the employment process, including recruitment, training opportunities, employee benefits, and access to job advancement.
These extreme limitations in employment can push trans people towards jobs that have limited potential for growth and development, such as beauticians, entertainers or sex workers.
Areeba Ali(Community Activist) spoke about health issues and discrimination faced by the transgender community. For trans people, their right to health can only be assured if services are provided in a non-stigmatizing and non-discriminatory environment. This requires working to educate the healthcare sector about gender identity and expression, and zero tolerance for conduct that excludes trans people.
The event was ended with the distribution of bouquets and certificates among guest speakers and organizers by the Head of Social Work Department.