Nisha Rao, a 28-year old transgender lawyer in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi who once begged in the streets is now hoping to become Pakistan’s first transgender judge.
“My goal, my vision, my dream is to become Pakistan’s first transgender judge,” said Nisha to news agency Reuters.
Pakistan, which is an Islamic nation, approved a law in 2018 that recognized transgenders as equal people and legalized punishment for discrimination and violence against them.
However, the ground reality is quite different and many transgender people in Pakistan and other South Asian country face discrimination, inequality and injustice.
Nisha Rao used to beg on the streets or dance at weddings to earn a living and now has become a lawyer who aspires to be a judge.
Rao comes from an educated middle-income family in the eastern city of Lahore from the most populous state of Punjab. She was only 18 when she ran away from her home after realising that she was different from others.
When she reached Karachi, the elders of the trans community who gave her shelter advised her to either beg or becomer a sex worker to survive in this city.
In order to survive, Rao started begging at traffic signals and saved enough money to pay for her law classes and now she has the license to practice and became a member of the Karachi Bar Association.
Even before she received her credentials, Rao had fought 50 cases and is associated with a trans-rights non-governmental organization that works for the rights of transgenders.