Pakistani woman files petition in court to seek gender reassignment surgery
(Getty)
A 24-year-old woman in Pakistan has filed a petition to the Lahore High Court to seek permission to have gender re assignment surgery.
Doctors in the country initially refused to perform the surgery without a court order.
The woman filed the petition with the help of trans advocate Naseer Husain Sindhu.
She began to experience gender dysphoria at the age of 14 and began to consult gynaecologists at a local hospital.
“Doctors at Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore have suggested me to immediately undergo surgery for a sex-change. However, the surgeons I approached refused to conduct the required surgical procedure apprehending possible legal action against them as they are not clear about what the law says in this regard.
“The doctors have advised me to first get permission for the surgery from a court of law,” she said.
The procedure is not available the Fatima Memorial Hospital so she has requested that the court allow her to have gender reassignment surgery.
Sindhu said there has been no bar in the Pakistani law to undergo sex change surgery.
“Since some social stigma is attached to this kind of thing, surgeons are usually apprehensive and shy away from performing such procedures here,” Sindhu said.
Violence against the transgender community in Pakistan is rife.
Alesha, a transgender activist in Pakistan was shot multiple times by a gang member. When admitted to The Lady Reading Hospital, doctors failed to treat her injuries straight away.
The victim, Kashi, was shot in the thigh when three armed men broke into her home, in Mansehra, and attempted to rape her.
