In a developed country like the United States of America, the transgender community enjoys equal rights and privileges that any other citizen would have. However, this is not the case in developing countries. For many years, the transgender communities in developing countries has been neglected. Deprived from their basic human rights, the transgender community in Pakistan tend to live in the worst conditions. They are not only stigmatized but are also discriminated against. Thus, transgender people, or Hijras (A term used for transgender people in South Asia), are a soft target for violence, rape, harassment, and sexual abuse because their existence has not even been properly recognized by the state.

Growing up in a developing country like Pakistan, I have witnessed many transgender people and transvestites living a life that they don’t deserve, and such is the case in most developing countries. Most families abandon their transgender children because they are ashamed of them. In some cases, they beat up their children when they come out as transgender and thus the children often run away from home, attempting to find an escape from oppression. They prefer living with the trans community, a place where they don’t have to be ashamed of their identity, a place where they feel safe, and a place where they often are given access to basic necessities like, food, shelter, and clothing.

Due to the lack of job opportunities for transgender people, they are forced to beg, prostitute themselves, and dance at weddings and private parties to make ends meet. The Hijras are the most oppressed community, considering that they don’t have access to jobs, education, and the most important of all, a social status. Society has rejected them in all the spheres of life and has never recognized the trans community in Pakistan as an equally important part of the society. To gain the acceptance of the majority of the society, many transgender people are forced to live two identities in order to maintain society’s gender roles. They mask their identity, fearing rejection from society, and thus preserving their social standing in the community.

Only in 2012 were transgender people given the right to have ID cards, which recognized them as "third gender," a big development for a country like Pakistan which is still conservative when it comes to the rights of transgender community. With the issuing of National Identification Cards, the Hijra community now also has voting rights. Thus they have garnered attention from major political parties who now want to gain popularity among the transgender community and will pledge to address their problems in order to increase their popularity.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan also announced a certain quota for the employment of Hijras. Unfortunately, however, it seems like this has not been implemented on a mass level as there isn't any substantial improvement in the standard of living of the Hijra community in Pakistan.

Although an improvement in the life of Hijras can be brought by reforms and legislations and their implementation, there still remain things that will be much harder to change, like eliminating stereotypes from the minds of common citizens of Pakistan. This can be only done through educating people about how the sexual orientation or identity of a person does not in any way describe their level of intellect or their capability. This can prove to be an important step in order to provide equal status to the transgender community.

In a country where more than 300,000 people identify as transgender, protection of the rights of Hijras should an utmost priority of the state. The government should take steps to make sure that transgender children are being enrolled in schools and colleges and should offer them employment in civil services. They should be provided with vocational training and the state should make sure that there is no discrimination against transgender people in workplaces and other institutions, to eradicate gender discrimination. Another way in which the government can address the problems of transgender community is by reserving a number of seats in the parliament for them, so that they have political representation and they represent the problems they have been facing and what they think are the proposed solutions to those problems.

Hijras go through emotional violence and are psychologically tortured even by the “educated” percentage of people in Pakistan. Many people will invite them to perform a dance in their extravagant weddings, but would not raise their voices to help Hijrass gain a status in the society. Most of the times it is these people from so-called 'educated' class that ridicule, harass and abuse the transgender people who are begging on the streets. Eliminating this mindset can be challenging for the state, but extensive media campaigns and awareness projects can help demolish this social taboo.

Only when we as a society eradicate the stigmatization of transgender people can we actually move towards development. Parents of transgender children need to step out of their conservative state of mind and embrace their children regardless of their sexual orientation or how they identify themselves. This process will not be instant, but it is certainly something that can be achieved through educating the society as a whole and normalizing the idea of acceptance of people regardless of who they are and who they want to be.