Centre for Law & Policy Research (CLPR), in collaboration with Swatantra, Payana, and Karnataka Vikalchetanara Sanghantane (KVS) organized a “Know Your Rights and Entitlements” (KYRE) session on August 10, 2024, inviting social activists and members of the transgender community to discuss the issue if increased instances of inter-community violence faced by transgender persons. The discussion was facilitated by the Paralegal Volunteers team at CLPR and Senior Advocate and Executive Director of CLPR, Jayna Kothari.
The day’s discussion began with Sana Suman who is associated with Swatantra and also serves as one of the PLVs working with CLPR providing an overview of the topic of discussion and then shedding light on the nature, causes and impact of violence within the community. Sana also noted that it is the natal family that is often the first site of violence for transgender persons, and this is not limited to instances of physical violence, but also includes emotional and psychological abuse by the family. Sana then drew attention to recent instances of community violence in Doddabalpura where a transman was assaulted by transgender persons and paraded with a garland of slippers. Another incident occurred in Vijaypura, where a transman was assaulted and paraded naked by Jogappas.
The introductory session was followed by an open discussion where participants were invited to share their personal experiences and reflections on the issue of violence being faced by transgender persons. Kiran Nayak, a PLV with CLPR, shared his experience as part of the crisis response team for the Vijaypura incident. He detailed the facts they unearthed on reaching the site of the incident, which explained the complexity behind such incidents and the difficulty in pointing out a singular reason for their occurrence of such cases of violence.
Many participants also noted that there is a lot of stigma against talking about instances of inter-community violence openly. Some of the key issues that emerged from this open discussion were that there was a need to have dialogue with trans communities and mitigate some of these issues, while also mobilising support for crisis management by community-based groups and organisations. Ultimately, there must be some response or action, and a framework of accountability else acts of violence will continue with impunity. Addressing the issues of community violence also requires a lot of sensitisation programs and trainings for first responders in instances of crisis so that there is a strategic response to such cases and responders have capacity to engage with lawyers, medical practitioners or law enforcement officers where necessary.
The concluding session for the day was facilitated by Jayna Kothari where she presented the legal framework that covered such incidents and instances of violence and what recourse or remedies were available under the law. Jayna covered provisions under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 along with crimes under the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. She particularly drew attention to Section18 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which criminalises the infliction of any harm, injury or endangerment of life onto a transgender person. The section covers a wide range of violent acts, ranging from physical abuse to sexual, verbal, emotional and even economic abuse. Jayna argued that in the presence of a specific provision, there must be concentrated efforts towards filing complaints and seeking recourse under Section 18 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and pointed to its wide scope as a more holistic protection as compared to crimes in the BNS, which only cover bodily harm. The session closed with Anusha, another PLV working with CLPR delivering the Vote of Thanks.
The session was held as part of the Constitutional Defenders Fellowship which is supported by the Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI).
