Pakistan's transgender community protests soaring prices

Hundreds of transgender Pakistanis and supporters protested against surging inflation in the southern city of Karachi on Wednesday, as a spike in prices amid the Middle East war disproportionately hits the vulnerable community.

Though Pakistan's transgender community has received legal protections in recent years, many face social and family stigma, often leading to economic deprivation that forces some to earn an income from begging.

The country, a key mediator between the United States and Iran, has seen soaring prices that threatened an already fragile economy during months of fighting and disruptions to global energy shipments.

Demonstrators in Pakistan's largest city chanted and held up signs emblazoned with slogans such as "high fuel prices, empty plates" and called for relief from spiking prices and help finding secure employment.

"We beg on the streets, you beg at the IMF," read one protester's sign -- a reference to Pakistan's multi-billion dollar bailout deal with the global lender.

Organisers said they had experienced soaring costs for rent, fuel and food and called on the government to pay more attention to protecting vulnerable populations, whose small budgets were disproportionately eaten into by more expensive essential items.

The country has long recognised a third sex, known as "khawaja sira", who for centuries have played a spiritual role in society, offering blessings at weddings and births.

"The khwaja sira community should be respected and honoured," said Aradhiya Khan, from the Gender Interactive Alliance advocacy group that organised the protest.

Pakistan's inflation rate leapt to 10 percent in the three months after the conflict began, from 5.5 percent in the July-February period, according to a government survey.

In June, consumer prices rose 11.1 percent from a year earlier, the official statistics agency said.

Shahzadi Rai, a transgender protester and advocate, said many from the khwaja sira community had struggled to find work, which worsened the impact of rising prices.

"In Pakistan, it's very difficult to survive for a cis(gender) person," Rai said.

But: "for the trans community, it's really hard."

bur-ceg/des