Rewrite is a TransAdvocate feature wherein unethical journalism is corrected and rewritten in ways that are respectful of the trans, intersex, and genderqueer experience. Today’s Rewrite comes from The Time of India.
LAHORE: A transgender woman in Pakistan died on Saturday after he she was set on fire allegedly by four cisgender persons when he she resisted their attempt to sexually assault he her.
The transgender woman suffered 80 percent burn injuries and died while he she was being taken to a hospital in Lahore.
According to police, the four cisgender men accused took the transgender woman to a deserted place near a cab station in Sahiwal district, around 250 kms from Lahore, on Thursday and set him her on fire after he she resisted their attempt to sexually assault him her.
In the north part of Pakistan, the transgender community is very unsafe, due to attacks from cisgender people. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Human Rights Directorate has taken serious notice of the rise in the incidents of cisgender violence against transgenders people and has directed all departments concerned to share their investigation into the murder of transgender persons recently on a daily basis.
Pakistan’s parliament in May last year passed a law guaranteeing basic rights for transgender citizens and outlawing discrimination by both employers and private business owners.
Rewrite is an effort to demonstrate ethical reporting about the trans, intersex, and genderqueer community. The original article titled Transgender in Pakistan set on fire for resisting sexual assault demonstrated the following reporting problems:
- Misgendering: misrepresenting the gender identity of a transgender person is, especially in the context of anti-trans violence, unethical. For reporting purposes, the pronouns of transgender women are she and her, and he and him for transgender men. A transgender woman is someone who was sexed male at birth and transitioned to female; likewise, a transgender man is someone who was sexed female at birth and transitioned to male.
- Othering: If an article makes use of the transgender designation, it’s appropriate to treat all subjects likewise. In other words, if someone is identified as transgender, non-transgender people should be identified as cisgender.
- Misuse of the term, “transgender”: “Transgender” should not be used as a noun. Generally speaking, transgender should be used as an adjective: transgender person, community, or experience.
