Pakistan on Friday launched a hotline for transgender people in an effort to protect them from discrimination and harassment, a senior government official said. Trans people in Pakistan are considered outcasts by many, especially in conservative areas in the country, where they are often sexually abused, assaulted and even murdered. They also hesitate to enroll in regular schools to avoid discrimination. Salman Sufi, an adviser to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, said in a tweet that the much-awaited hotline for the protection of trans people from discrimination and harassment had been set up and was live. The hotline is connected to top police officers and the Ministry of Human Rights, he said.