March 9, 2019:
The cell will be headed by a transgender person.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has planned to start a transgender cell within the commission to look into complaints of abuse as well as to reach out to the community.
The cell will be headed by a transgender person, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said on Thursday, while talking about women safety ahead of International Women’s Day.
“We will have a dedicated cell for transgender people, which will be headed by a representative from the community. The commission receives a lot of complaints of abuse against them. The cell will enable us to focus on issues faced by transgenders & providing members greater support & safety,” said Maliwal.
The transgender cell will focus on complaints of abuse & discrimination as well as run programmes to reach out to the community to create awareness about their rights.
During its 13-day-long Mahila Suraksha Padyatra, members from the community had participated in the march & raised concerns of physical & sexual violence being faced by them.
“Transgender people have raised a number of concerns including sexual abuse, discrimination at the workplace as well as problems in finding an accommodation in the city,” she said.
Last year, the Delhi government had announced setting up of a transgender welfare board for inclusion of the community. the board is yet to be established.
The government had set up a seven-member committee to review the issues affecting the transgender community, based on the recommendations of which the board was to be set up.
“There are a large number of issues, including violence & discrimination of basic rights such as healthcare & employment, which is affecting the community. Having a dedicated cell could certainly help,” said, Rudrani Chettri, a Delhi-based transgender-woman & director of Mitr Trust.
Meanwhile, the commission also plans to come up with a ‘women manifesto’ for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Source Link
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