Nayyab Ali
Pakistani Trans Activist Nayyab Ali Wins GALAS International Activist Award
Nayyab Ali is a transgender rights defender and Chairperson of the All Pakistan Transgender Election Network. She also manages the ‘Khawaja Sira Community Centre’ in Okara, which offers a basic literacy and numeracy programme, vocational training, life skills education and driving classes for the transgender community. In 2018, Nayyab was one of the four transgender candidates who ran for Pakistan's general elections. Nayyab has also been leading the advocacy efforts for the approval of the Pakistan’s National Transgender Rights Protection Policy.
Pakistan became one of the first countries to legally recognise a third sex on its national ID cards almost a decade ago and extended this to its passports in 2017. However, discrimination and violence persist. Nayyab herself has also faced numerous threats and physical attacks, and she survived an acid attack.
Pakistan’s record of impunity has emboldened hostile actors and fostered an increasingly violent climate for HRDs, who face high risks including killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, abduction and kidnapping, surveillance, threats and judicial harassment. The government of Pakistan has made no real effort to support or protect their work and instead regularly votes against UN resolutions aimed at providing better protection for HRDs.
