Transgender Woman Dies After Hospital Staff Argue For An Hour Over Which Gender Ward To Use

A transgender activist died after being shot in Pakistan. However, her friends say the hospital staff did not provide prompt care but instead spent too much time worrying about whether to place the transgender woman in the male or female ward. Due to the gender identity issue, the hospital allegedly waited an hour to treat the gunshot victim while attempting to determine which ward would be most appropriate for the transgender woman, who was born male.

The Daily Mail reports that a transgender activist named Alisha (sometimes referred to as Alesha) was left in critical condition after she was attacked and shot. The activist was taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, for emergency treatment, but staff were allegedly slow to treat the transgender gunshot victim because of arguments regarding which ward to place the woman, as she was male at birth. Therefore, the hospital staff spent an hour trying to determine which ward, male or female, to place the dying woman in.

Following emergency surgery, Alisha passed away, and now her friends from the Trans Action Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are expressing their outrage over her treatment and to advocate for fair treatment of transgender patients in the hospital.

“Congratulations KP Govt. The TransAction Board Member and the district coordinator of the transgender Provincial Alliance Alesha died in LRH because she never received intensive medical attention.”

The organization has made a number of tributes to Alisha on its official Facebook page while promoting the end to “trans-phobia.”

https://www.facebook.com/TransActionKP/posts/1227089107302703

Some of Alisha’a transgender friends, who came to the hospital to see their dying friend, say they were harassed by hospital staff due to their gender identity. In fact, some claim that they were asked about pricing for lap dances and had requests of sexual favors made while they entered the hospital to say their goodbyes to Alisha.

“The operation theatre male staff kept giving me their numbers and everyone wanted my contact information. A doctor wants to know how much I charge to dance for a night and another health technician wants to know if I only dance or also perform sex… I mean WTF… I am with a patient who we don’t know whether or not she will survive.”

According to the LA Times, it took “several hours” before Alisha was finally placed in a treatment room as hospital staff argued over whether to place her with male or female patients. Alisha’s friends say that the bickering about her gender continued until the hospital medical director intervened and told the staff to take the dying transgender woman to a VIP wing for immediate treatment.

“For several hours, staff members at the 1,750-bed hospital told them Alisha could not be treated in either the male or female patient wards. Finally, the hospital’s medical director intervened and assigned Alisha a room in the VIP wing.”

Sadly for Alisha, the treatment came too late, and she would be pronounced dead from her gunshot wounds. The Trans Action group that Alisha was active in prior to her death posted tributes to Alisha while sending a message to government officials noting “kill us all!”

https://www.facebook.com/TransActionKP/videos/1227086090636338/

The group notes that Alisha’s death is tragic yet not uncommon in Pakistan, where those in the transgender community are heavily targeted. In fact, those in the transgender community say they are often denied access to education, healthcare, and jobs due to their gender identities.

https://www.facebook.com/TransActionKP/posts/1226900943988186

This was allegedly not the first time that Alisha had been shot. Reports indicate that she had been shot on at least two other occasions, with many noting it is not uncommon for those in the transgender community to be physically attacked. Alisha had previously detailed her struggles as a transgender woman, stating that she was denied employment on numerous occasions despite having more schooling than her peers. Therefore, like many other transgender women in Pakistan, she worked as a dancer to make enough money to support herself, her mother, and her sister.

[Image via Facebook/ Trans Action Khyber]