REEM Sharif can be counted among the bravest people in the country as she speaks about a recent mission in an interview with a news agency. It involved her standing up to and pacifying men upset that the person “they thought was their brother had always been a sister”. Reem Sharif is hailed as Pakistan’s first trans police officer and works for Tahaffuz Centre, a pilot project run by the Rawalpindi Police to protect transgender people. Already, she has shown a lot of purpose. Apart from talking sense to the brothers of the transperson mentioned above, she has been instrumental in preventing another from being thrown out. It is not confirmed whether she was able to do that through the sheer power of her legal argument or the authority vested in police. However, success stories like these are essential to sustain the campaign. In a good sign for a force that could do with agents who — at least theoretically — have easier access to all dark and semi-lit corners of society than the average desk-bound constable, no less than 40 trans people have visited her centre “out of curiosity”. Also, 16 cases in two months is sufficient proof that transpeople have problems they would prefer to take to one of their own, as opposed to a person of another gender.

The apprehension of being humiliated and presumed guilty on account of one’s gender stems from societal attitudes not least painfully reflected in Reem Sharif’s own experience. Quite despicably, education and exposure appeared to have added to her woes; her college days were a time of great suffering for her. Her story, then, is a classic example of what a huge difference the state’s practical assertion can make to a campaign long fed solely on public-awareness messages. In the past few years, transpeople, said to number 500,000 in Pakistan, have been given active help by the state in discovering their identity and finding economic opportunities. Having them in authoritative positions in departments such as police will go a long way in establishing their credentials. But let us try and rationalise it. Trans police officers resolving problems of transpeople is a huge step. Yet it still puts these long discriminated against and gender-determined section of humans at a distance from the mainstream. True inclusion will only be achieved when a person is able to deal with another without any consideration of race, sect, ethnicity or gender.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2020