Nisha Rao has crossed over so many hurdles to become the lawyer in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. The 28-year-old transgender, once begged in streets to earn a livelihood, now aspires 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.
Pakistani government have passed a law in 2018 which recognised the transgenders as equal people and legalised punishment for discrimination and violence against them. Though changes were lot in Paper, little changed in reality. Most of the transgender people in this South Asian country face inequality and injustice and beg on the streets or dance at weddings to earn a living. Nisha story also start from that point. Rao hails from an educated middle-income family in the eastern city of Lahore. After realising her difference from others, Nisha ran away from her house when she was 18. She got advice to beg or become a sex worker to survive.
She preferred Begging, and started at traffic signals but is confident that her fate will change one day. She spend the money she made by begging to pay for her law classes. The years of hard work resulted in Rao becoming a lawyer and earlier this year, she received the license to practise and became a member of the Karachi Bar Association. It's only been a year, but Rao has already fought 50 cases and is associated with a trans-rights non-governmental organisation that works for the rights of transgenders.
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