16 trans women have been arrested and may be jailed in a Malaysia male prison.
They could face six months in prison where their heads will be forcibly shaved and they will have no access to gender treatment.
It comes after religious authorities raided a Malay wedding in Bahau, Jempol on Sunday, accusing 17 women of violating Sharia law.
The women were charged with cross-dressing, and were sentenced yesterday morning.
One of them escaped jail, as she was under the age of 18, she will be ‘counselled to cure the condition’.
The remaining 16 will be fined and jailed for at least seven days.
If they fail to pay the fine of 950 Malaysian ringgits ($300, €220), then they will be jailed for six months.
A transgender rights group Justice For Sisters spokesman said: ‘As none of them have never been arrested under this law before, they panicked and pleaded guilty.
‘Most of them are mak andam [wedding planners] and they were worried that this will affect their reputation and income.’
They said if the women wanted to escape even seven days prison, they would have to pay 1,500 ringgits ($470, €350) each.
‘As much as possible, we do not want the girls to be imprisoned,’ Justice For Sisters said.
‘As their identification card says male, they will be sentenced to a male prison, and treated as a male person – their heads will be shaved, no hormone treatment and high risk of violence.
Nisha Ayub, who works with Justice For Sisters, has criticized the religious police for arresting trans women who were attending a private party.
The Jempol Islamic Religious Office has confirmed the raid was conducted on Sunday, but said it would not divulge more details.
Sharia law in the Malaysian state ‘bans any male person who, in any public place, wears a woman’s attire or poses as a woman.’
SOURCE
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