S05E04 (Int'l Women's Day) Laya Vasudevan on the Progress of Transgender Rights in India

Laya Vasudevan is the director of the Delhi-based Centre for Legal Aid and Rights, which works on women's rights, health rights, and access to justice. In 2014, the centre played a major role in the landmark case, NALSA vs. Union of India, which advanced and protected the rights of the transgender community in India. She has also been a member of the expert committee appointed by the Indian Government on transgender rights, and consulted with IDLO on sexual orientation and gender identity in India. Laya has studied in India and the UK, and was a Chevening Human Rights Scholar in the UK in 1999-2000. In this conversation with IHRB's Salil Tripathi, Laya talks about the crucial importance of the 2014 judgment in India, which recognised transgender identity. She speaks of the stigma the community faces and the legal protections available to the community. She urges companies to see the issue beyond social responsibility, so that companies take steps beyond tokenism in integrating transgender people within the workforce. It means working on corporate culture, sensitive handling, and working with the transgender community.