Project Convergence launch
Project Convergence launch

Trans activist Akkai launches campaign to fight violence against sexual minorities

Two law firms: Alternative Law Forum and Reach Law will assist them in legal matters.

Ondede, a human rights organization that advocates the rights of children, women and sexual minorities, on February 16 launched their campaign Project Convergence in Mysuru. It aims at safeguarding the gender non-conforming, transgender persons and sexual minorities in Karnataka. Vipul Kumar, Inspector General and the Director of Karnataka Police Academy launched the campaign along with the members of the community in the presence of other senior officers of the department of Police.

Project Convergence started in collaboration with Saathii, a non-governmental organization, will focus on reaching out to different communities in the state and educating them about sexual minorities, gender non-conforming and transgender persons while pushing for the changes in the law over the course of two years. Two law firms: Alternative Law Forum and Reach Law will assist them in legal matters.

Speaking about the campaign, Transgender activist Akkai Padmashali told TNM, “The aim of the campaign is to create visibility for the gender non-conforming, transgender persons and sexual minorities; to generate support for the community. We want to bring institutional changes in the existing laws and acts like domestic violence or sexual violence. They are the people who have no protection under the law if they are subjected to violence; in addition to that, bills like Transgender Persons Rights Bill further aggravate the plight of those from sexual minorities community.”

The campaign, she said, will have a bottom-to-top approach, in essence, the campaign seeks support from those in unoccupied social spaces like street vendors, sex workers to governments, educational institutions; in order to build support and solidarities to stand with movement of transgender and sexual minorities

When asked if they plan to continue the movement across India, Akkai said, “Our primary focus is on Karnataka and will further, extend our plans by pushing for changes in states of Southern India before starting it on a pan-Indian scale.”

Akkai believes that the movement is people’s movement and it shall find support from everyone in the society. 

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