Andrea Sanna
Ride-sharing service for transgender people and women launched in Pakistan
A new ride-sharing service for transgender people and women has been launched in Pakistan.
The new service, called SheDrives, was launched recently and according to the company’s CEO, Ammaz Farooqui, it is a way to protect transgender people and women from potential discrimination and harassment. At the moment, the service is only available in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, but it could be expanded to other cities in Pakistan to cover the major cities.
Remember that Pakistan is a conservative, predominantly Muslim country, and therefore transgender people – like women – face high levels of discrimination and even incidents of violence, sexual abuse, assault and murder. In fact, it is common for transgender people to be excluded from mainstream schools.
In addition, same-sex sexual relations – especially between men – are illegal and punishable by up to two years in prison, although they are rarely enforced.
Ammaz Farooqui sees his business as a way to help two of Pakistan’s most marginalised and vulnerable communities: transgender people and women.
“I have taken a small step and we could expand this service to other cities.”
No, what is unique is that both the drivers and the passengers of this service will be exclusively transgender people and women. And all the vehicles will have pink logos as a sign of recognition.
Life for the LGBTQIA community in Pakistan is not easy. Suffice it to say that one man was forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility by the authorities simply for trying to open the country’s first gay club.
Ammaz Farooqui’s initiative is a first step of light in the tunnel of homotransphobia and misogyny in Pakistan.