The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal on Thursday slammed the Transgender Bill presented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for protection of rights of a transgender bill.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal claimed it will be detrimental to the Transgender community if the bill gets passed in the current form.
Welcoming the move of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, She stated, ‘The DCW welcomes the move of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, but to introduce a bill for the protection of rights of transgender persons. However, the draft of the Bill as accessed by the Commission has serious lacunas and lacks certain major aspects’.
Further raising questions on the bill tabled by the Ministry, if the government cleared this bill it will encourage sexual assault of transgender persons.
“For instance, the penal provision for sexual assault against a transgender person is imprisonment for a period of minimum six months to maximum two years only where for others, sexual assault is punishable by imprisonment of not less than seven years and maximum of life imprisonment,” she added in the letter.
Through the letter, She appealed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Minister of Social Justice Thawar Chand Gehlot to send the Bill to a Standing Committee for scrutiny and for broader consultations.
The letter also attached the in-depth recommendations of the bill by DCW Transgender Cell. She claimed that the recommendations have been drafted after holding a series of consultations with the transgender community, legal experts and civil society members.
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