Pakistan’s transgender community get its first ride-sharing service

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s transgender community has gotten its first ride-sharing service in the latest effort to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment, the business' founder said on Wednesday.

The new ride-share was launched over the weekend in the country's cultural capital of Lahore. It's called SheDrives and will service only trans people and women, according to Ammaz Farooqi, the company's chief executive.

For now, it will service only Lahore, but expansion is possible, Farooqi said.

There are an estimated 30,000 trans people in Lahore, and organizations working for their welfare estimate that across Pakistan, the transgender community numbers about 500,000 out of the total population of 240 million.

Trans people are considered outcasts by many, especially in conservative areas of Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country. They are often sexually abused, assaulted and even murdered. They hesitate to enroll in regular schools to avoid discrimination, and when they travel on public buses or trains many are exposed to ridicule, hurtful jokes and other forms of harassment.

Pakistani women also face similar harassment when daring to travel alone in bus or train coaches with other, male passengers.

“A unique aspect of this app and ride service is that the drivers and passengers will be women and transgender persons," Farooqi said.

Pink logos painted on the vehicles would allow women and trans people to recognize them.

Farooqi, who is not trans, said he feels optimistic the future will be more inclusive for everyone.

“I have taken a small step and we may expand this service to other cities,” he said.

Pakistan in 2022 established a hotline for trans people connected to police offices and the Ministry of Human Rights, and the year before, authorities opened the country's first government-run school for transgender students in the central city of Multan.

The country's parliament also drafted a transgender rights bill to allow trans people choose their gender identity for previously issued government documents, educational certificates and national identity cards.

But the proposed amendments have caused controversy, with hard-line clerics opposing them. Human rights experts say a lot is still to be done to ensure recognition of trans people on a social level.