Pakistan’s transgender community get its first ride-sharing service

SheDrives will service only trans people and women. Trans people are considered outcasts by many in predominantly Muslim Pakistan

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Women arrive to work at a leather factory in Karachi. Pakistani women also face similar harassment when daring to travel alone in bus or train coaches with other, male passengers. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:07pm, 11 Sep 2024

Pakistan’s transgender community has gotten its first ride-sharing service in the latest effort to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment, the business’ founder said on Wednesday.

The new ride-share was launched over the weekend in the country’s cultural capital of Lahore. It is called SheDrives and will service only trans people and women, the company’s chief executive Ammaz Farooqi said.

For now, it will service only Lahore, but expansion is possible, Farooqi said.

For now, SheDrives will service only trans people and women in Lahore. Photo: AFP

There are an estimated 30,000 trans people in Lahore, and organisations working for their welfare estimate that across Pakistan, the transgender community numbers about 500,000 out of the country’s population of 240 million.

Trans people are considered outcasts by many, especially in conservative areas of Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country. They are often sexually abused, assaulted and even murdered. They hesitate to enrol in regular schools to avoid discrimination, and when they travel on public buses or trains many are exposed to ridicule, hurtful jokes and other forms of harassment.