Crossing the Trust Divide: Building Inclusive Police-Transgender Relations in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The trust deficit between transgender people and the police in Punjab, Pakistan, jeopardizes the legitimacy of the institution and endangers the lives of the community. Even effective implementation of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018 has been poor, and transgender individuals still experience harassment, assaults, and exclusion by the police. Such a lack of trust invalidates the position of police as a source of protection and further marginalizes transgender communities. This study aims to investigate the ways of building trust between police officers and transgender people through analyzing their lived experiences of mistrust, discrimination, and opportunities of change. For this an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used, which was founded on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 15 transgender and 16 police officers in varied districts in Punjab. The participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling. The local NGOs were involved to make sure that all those who had direct contact with the police would be represented. Findings show some structural barriers to trust building like harassment, verbal abuse, lack of gender sensitivity training, fear of retaliation, weak accountability mechanisms, under-representation in institutions and institutional invisibility. Transgender participants and some police officers pointed out the areas of reform, such as community dialogues, awareness programs, and special officers to communicate with transgender communities. Implementing suggested reforms would not only enhance police legitimacy but also create safer spaces for transgender individuals, contributing to broader social justice and equality in Pakistan.

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