The Jakarta Post
Modern Jakarta is still no place for transgender people with the authorities reluctant in granting protection to the rights of individuals, whose gender and identity do not conform to society’s values, an anlayst and rights activist said. “There is still an apparent lack of awareness among the authorities, especially the police, on how to handle this specific issue,” sociologist Siti Hidayati Amal said recently.This view, Siti added, has led to police using violence in dealing with the transgender people because their lack of knowledge has prompted them to see these groups as abnormal.Police also seem to turn a blind eye to people assaulting transvestites in the name of religion or community. All penitentiary complexes in Jakarta are made strictly made for men and women, without special facilities given to transgender people, leading to confusion as to where to incarcerate th...