Malaysia is one of the worst places for transgenders in the world, particularly when compared with other Muslim countries, said  international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) today.

"Malaysia is one of the worst countries when compared to other Muslim countries because the raids happen continuously.

"There is like a sweep...The religious department officials check transgender people whether they are Muslim or not through their ICs, and if they are, they get detained.

"We don't see that done in such an orchestrated way by the governments of other countries," said. HRW's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights division's advocacy director Boris Dittrich today.

He was responding to questions at a press conference today after a press conference to launch HRW's 73-page report titled 'I'm Scared to be a Woman'.

"Raids by the police and Islamic Affairs Department officers take place continuously.

"Almost every day, the transgender people run the risk of getting arrested," said Dittrich.

He said he and his team were "shocked" with what they found through interviews conducted with transgenders and activists in the country.

Meetings with government officials

Asked whether HRW had any plans to present the report to the Malaysian government, Dittrich said the NGO was in the midst of obtaining meetings with government officers.

"We had a meeting with the Attorney-General’s Chambers although the AG (Abdul Gani Patail) was not present.

"We will have a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office later today," he said, adding that the NGO went to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) a few days before to discuss the situation of the transgender people in Malaysia.

Dittrich said it was important that the people get more exposed on the plight of the transgender individuals in the country.

"We should get people to be familiar with personalised stories of transgender people."

The media had a role to play to realise this as the media had often portrayed transgenders in a negative manner, he added.

He also dispelled the notion that most transgenders were sex workers.

"A lot of these people (transgenders) we interviewed have regular jobs, although it is hard for them to get jobs in the first place," he said.

The HRW report found how transgenders in the country had faced sexual assaults by religious department officers and prison guards and had daily fears of arrest and discrimination by healthcare professionals.

Dittrich in his speech, however, vowed to continue assisting transgender individuals, as their "work is not over".

Malaysiakini has contacted the Prisons Department as well as the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Affairs Department and is awaiting their responses.

Harrowing report on transgenders' abuse

HRW report: 'I'm scared to be a woman'