Human Rights: Enforcement of transgender people's rights in India 'stalled'

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http://www.dw.de/enforcement-of-transgender-peoples-rights-in-india-stalled/a-18247471

Nearly one year after the Supreme Court's landmark decision on transgender people in India, the country still faces problems enforcing the ruling. DW spoke with Jayshree Bajoria about the state of these rights reforms.

Human Rights: Enforcement of transgender people's rights in India 'stalled'
Rebecca Staudenmaier
10.02.2015

In April 2014, India's highest court decided on a case aimed at drawing attention to the discrimination faced by the transgendered community in the South Asian nation. After hearing the case, the judges ruled that transgender people should be recognized as a third gender and not only enjoy all fundamental rights, but also receive special benefits in education and jobs.

But according to rights activists, the implementation of this historic ruling has been held up, while attacks against transgendered people continue. Legal justification for the harassment and marginalization of this community still exists in the remnants of old colonial-era laws.

One such law, Section 377 of Indian Penal Code, criminalizes same-sex relations among consenting adults, and is used as a justification for discrimination against transgendered and homosexual people. These laws, coupled with the social stigma have proven to be difficult hurdles on the road to equality for this marginalized group in India.

In a DW interview Jayshree Bajoria, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Delhi, says that despite the landmark ruling transgender people remain vulnerable to harassment and violence, not just by the police, but also by a society that still frequently ridicules them.