in partnership with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) to
commemorate the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers,
December 17th, 2010. It is excerpted from
,
published 17 December 2010 by the NSWP, an organization that upholds
the voice of sex workers globally and connects regional networks
advocating for the rights of female, male, and transgender sex workers.
Download the full journal, with eight more articles about sex work and
violence, for free at
Andrea is in her early twenties. She comes from a poor family in the
provinces of a Southeast Asian country. Unlike most women, she has a
male birth certificate. She is a transgender woman.
Andrea has felt female as long as she can remember, and began living a
female life as soon as she could. For this she was insulted by
neighbours, teased by teachers and classmates at school, beaten up and
raped by a bunch of young boys one night, and eventually beaten and
disowned by her father. She dropped out of school, left home and
migrated to the city, to stay with an older transwoman from her home
town who, it turned out, was a transgender sex worker working the
streets. Andrea didn't much like the idea of sex work, but without
education or connections was unable to get a job. Being 'trans' worked
against her. No one wanted to employ her, even as a waitress or shop
assistant. She turned to the 'entertainment' sector. Unable to get a job
as a bar dancer or hostess, and barred from nightclubs and discos (all
because she is trans), she too began to work on the streets. She has
done it for five years, earning money for food and lodging, and a little
extra for hormones and new silicon injections for her hips and breasts.
Andrea's story is one of many thousands of transwomen worldwide
(especially those like Andrea who are rural, less educated and socially
isolated) who turn to sex work, not as the most attractive of a range of
job options, but as the sole viable option for survival. Doubly
stigmatised as transsexuals and as sex workers, pushed into street work,
they become victims of abuse and violence perpetrated by bystanders,
customers, their own 'sisters,' and (sadly) even by those who should be
protecting them - the police.
As Andrea soon found out, competition on the streets is tough. There
are too many trans sex workers and too few customers. Increasingly, her
competitors are younger and more attractive. There have been fights over
customers. Bystanders often abuse her verbally. Customers sometimes
refuse to pay, angrily claiming they did not know she is trans. She has
been beaten a few times. She knows others have been murdered. Nowadays,
in order to avoid violence, she makes clear to every man who approaches
her that she is transgender, even if that loses her customers.
Discrimination, Abuse and Violence
Latin America perhaps presents the most shocking examples of violence
against transwomen, especially sex workers. Possibly hundreds of travesties
have been murdered in recent years. But the situation in Asia, with
which we are more familiar, is pretty bad too. Continent-wide
conservative attitudes and religious beliefs fuel intolerance and
stimulate discrimination, abuse and violence against transgender people;
particularly against transwomen. All three thrive because concepts of
individual rights and equal opportunity are often undervalued or
unenforced.
A few recent cases from the first half of 2010 illustrate the
situation well. An ultra-nationalist group in Mongolia has beaten,
abducted and raped transwomen, and has issued death threats, all because
they consider these persons un-Mongolian. A Vietnamese woman was
gang-raped, her case making news because her legal status (male)
invalidated any rape charges against the perpetrators. In Bali,
transwomen have been pursued, assaulted and humiliated by young men who
have shaved the hair from their victims' heads. In Turkey there has been
a long series of incidents involving thugs beating transwomen on the
streets, and police arbitrarily arresting, beating and humiliating
transgender activists. In a most recent incident, just a few days before
completion of this article, a Turkish transwoman was found murdered;
stabbed twelve times and with wounds from her throat to her stomach.
Finally, across Indonesia, thugs have broken into meetings of transwomen
and driven away the participants, chasing them into the streets, all on
the grounds that they are un-Islamic.
Partner violence against transwomen seldom makes it into the
newspapers or web blogs. And yet it is a major problem. Many transwomen
drift into abusive and violent relationships through low self-esteem.
Once there, many feel unable to leave their partners. Beliefs about
gender roles foster an even higher tolerance for violence. One South
Asian transwoman admitted, "I don't mind if my girya (man) beats me up.
It only shows how manly and powerful he is." Another claimed, "When my parik ("husband") beats me, I feel as helpless as a woman. Since I want to be a woman, it actually makes me feel good."1
As is already apparent from the Turkish example above, abuse and
violence are often perpetrated by state organs supposedly there to
protect the weak. In Kuwait, Nepal and India there have been clear cases
of organised police violence against trans communities; so organised as
to take on the appearance of 'sexual cleansing' programmes (apparently
aimed at instilling fear into transwomen intending to come out of their
homes). In some countries anti-homosexuality laws have been used to
oppress transwomen, and anti-sex work laws have been used to oppress
transgender sex workers (along with others). In Cambodia, programmes of
forced occupational rehabilitation for sex workers have resulted in
transwomen (and other women) being placed into training programmes aimed
at providing workers for the garment industry. Not for nothing does
APNSW (the Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Workers) feature a 'no sewing
machines' image as its logo.
Andrea has had her share of police encounters. The police often
harass her and have arbitrarily arrested her. Police extortion is a
problem too (either after arrest or as a condition for not arresting
her). A few times they charged her with being a nuisance to tourists
(though in each case it was the tourist who approached her). At other
times they found her in possession of a condom and charged her with
prostitution, which is illegal in her country. She now does not carry
condoms anymore, and often has unprotected sex. She had twice been
sexually assaulted in a police station, once by two police officers, and
another time by a male inmate with whom she had been locked up. In each
case there was no condom used. She recently found out that she is HIV
positive.
High-risk Sex
Worldwide, HIV prevalence rates for transwomen are commonly found to
reach double figures. One suspects that the precise figure often depends
in part on the proportion of the sample involved in sex work. High HIV
infection rates, often coupled with lack of access to HIV/ AIDS care,
arguably represent the most glaring example of violence perpetrated
against transwomen. This is not just about commercial sex or receptive
anal intercourse; transwomen's HIV rates are sometimes higher than those
for female sex workers or men who have sex with men. Rather they are
the inevitable consequence of widespread prejudice that frames
transgenderism as unnatural, immoral or mentally disordered; of legal
frameworks that view transwomen as men, denying them respect, equality
and dignity as women; and of laws that criminalise sex between
transwomen and men as same-sex activities.
In these circumstances many trans sex workers drift or get pushed
into high-risk sex. Water-based lubricants may be too expensive. Some
substitute them with oil-based lubricants (including engine oil), which
are known to corrode condoms. Sex work on the street may be hurried
(leaving less time for a condom anyway). In any case, trans sex workers
like Andrea often avoid carrying condoms and lubricants as a way of
depriving police of evidence of sex work. Rural migrants, often cut off
from family, and less educated and informed than their urban
counterparts, are particularly at risk for unsafe sex. Drug and alcohol
use, which are quite common among those involved in transgender sex
work, exacerbate the problem. Viagra and its analogues, making for
longer and repeated sexual intercourse and raising the risk of anal
wounds, also increase risk.
Many trans sex workers, despite being poor, need money for hormones,
silicone injections or surgery. The associated costs increase their
poverty, making it harder to refuse a customer who does not want to use a
condom. And then there is the pervasive problem faced by many
(trans)women worldwide: low in self-esteem and desperate for a life
partner, glimpsing an opportunity for a long-term relationship, wanting
to put trust in someone, they cease to use condoms all too quickly.
Human Rights
The organisers of a recent Barcelona conference on transgender rights
(the first truly global conference organised by and for transpeople)
were keenly aware of violence in the lives of transpeople, especially of
trans sex workers.2 Several sessions touched on sex work and violence
issues. A document on violence and criminalisation, widely endorsed in a
plenary final session, declared a set of basic rights relevant to all
transpeople, but often denied to them - especially to those in sex work.3 With regards to violence, the document calls upon Governments:
- to recognise and condemn as human rights violations all cases of transrelated violence;
- to investigate such cases of violence (including when perpetrated by organs of the state);
- to provide fully funded trauma counselling and care for survivors of trans-related violence;
- to enact laws providing protection against such violence;
- to provide free and equal access to the justice system for transpeople; and
- to provide administrative, security and legal personnel with
sensitivity training on trans issues, as well as on human rights
standards on transrelated issues.
In Asia we are a long way from implementation of the list of
principles and recommendations produced in Barcelona. Hopefully, some
day in the future, properly observed and implemented, they will
contribute towards a much needed improvement in the quality of life of
Andrea, other trans sex workers, and of transgender people in general.
About the Authors
Khartini Slamah is coordinator of the Asia- Pacific Network of Sex
Workers (APNSW) and a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Transgender
Network. Sam Winter is associate professor at the University of Hong
Kong, director of the Transgender ASIA Research Centre and a board
member of WPATH (the World Professional Association for Transgender
Health). Kemal Ordek is the general secretary of Pink Life LGBTT
Solidarity Association ( Pembe Hayat, the only trans rights association
in Turkey); and sexual orientation and gender identity taskforce member
of the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.
Notes
1 Cited by Shivananda Khan in a paper presented at the 2nd
International Expert Meeting on HIV Prevention on MSM, WSW and
Transgenders, Amsterdam, November 2009.
2 The International Congress on Gender Identity and Human
Rights, Barcelona, June 2010. A key feature of this conference, drawing
participants from six continents, was that almost all attending were
transpeople, and many were sex workers.
3 Violence, Criminalization, and Gender Identity (2010), available from: http://web.hku.hk/
weblink http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/12/16/stigma-exclusion-violence-against-trans-workers
Recent Comments