CAPE TOWN (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Beneath a bridge in the Cape Town suburb of Woodstock, a strung-together network of blankets serves as a refuge for a group of women fighting stigma on many fronts. SistaazHood, a group of about 40 transgender women, most of them homeless and sex workers, has become a growing voice on issues such as transgender homeless shelters, the legalization of sex work and better access to healthcare.

Local rights groups credit the Sistaaz - who were labeled male at birth but identify as female - for challenging the police’s relationship with the trans community and motivating a major court ruling on transgender prisoner rights.

“The Sistaaz contributed their experiences to the drafting of the police service’s Standard Operating Procedures, outlining concerns about harassment of transgender people,” said Liberty Matthyse, head of transgender rights group Gender DynamiX.

For 45-year-old Netta Marcus, who founded the Siztaaz with five other women in 2010, “stigma follows us wherever we go”.

“But we are showing people that we are not a story made up in their minds,” she added, adjusting her blue headscarf. “We are here, and people are starting to listen.” South Africa was the first country in the world to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in 1996 and is still the only African nation to allow same-sex marriage. Yet, transgender activists say their community has largely been forgotten in the fight for equality. Read more via Reuters