At least 56 transgender individuals have been killed in Sindh since 2022, according to Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA) President Bindiya Rana, who described the spate of attacks as “the height of cruelty.”
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Rana said that Pakistan’s transgender community remains one of the most marginalised groups, facing persistent challenges linked to housing, food, identity cards, and employment. She expressed deep concern that the traditional source of livelihood, performing at weddings and other celebrations, has almost disappeared. “People have now stopped inviting us to their functions. More than 90 per cent of our community is forced to survive through begging,” she said.
Rana added that recent incidents, including stabbings and shootings in Karachi, highlight a disturbing pattern of violence. Just this week, multiple transgender individuals were targeted and killed, prompting consultations within the community and plans for protests across the province.
The crisis is not limited to Sindh. Farzana Riaz, president of the Transgender Association working for the rights of the community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, revealed that between 2015 and 2025, at least 157 transgender individuals have been murdered across the province.
Rights organisation have expressed alarm over the situation, noting that attacks against transgender people, locally known as Hijras, have surged in recent years. The United Nations and global rights groups say Pakistan is home to around half a million transgender citizens, who continue to face exclusion, harassment, and violence.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a statement, stressed that transgender people “are a vulnerable segment of society, and we must all give them dignity and respect.”
Despite the passage of the landmark Transgender Rights Act in 2018, which allowed individuals to self-identify their gender, many protections were weakened after sections of the law were struck down by a sharia court. According to the Journal-The Lancet 2023 report, nine out of ten transgender individuals in Pakistan have been subjected to physical assault, underlining the scale of discrimination and violence they face.
