The Elections Act 2017 passed by Pakistani parliament in 2017 encouraged transgender people to vote and also to contest in elections. Five transgender candidates took up the challenge, running successful, albeit losing, political campaigns.

Although the recent elections in Pakistan have come under fire and there are serious allegations of rigging and poor management, many observers consider the active participation of women voters to be the best thing to come out of this national exercise.

Seema Azis is one of the most prominent business leaders in South Asia. However, she is mostly known for her work in improving the education sector of Pakistan. Aziz runs more than 700 English medium schools in Pakistan for the underprivileged.

Meerzadi, driving her rickshaw

Meerzadi is a 24 year old woman from Pakistan. I call her on her phone while she is at her home in Moak Sharif, a small village in Sindh, Pakistan. She happily greets me on the phone. There’s enthusiasm and energy in her voice. Meerzadi comes from a poor family in Sindh. Her motivation to break the shackles of poverty forced her to follow a way of life that is not so common among women in her area.