Transgender sex workers among China's most marginalised minorities, researchers find
Researchers find a shunned community with scant resources, facing hostility and abuse
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 18 January, 2015, 6:42am
UPDATED : Sunday, 18 January, 2015, 8:21am
The Guardian in Beijing
Transgender sex workers are among the most marginalised and vulnerable populations on the mainland today.
Xia Yu has not visited her family in years, afraid that they would be ashamed of her identity. Yang Zhou stopped taking the subway to avoid the stares of strangers. Xiao Tong was once beaten by police. "They asked really perverted questions, like how do you have sex," she said. "I turned around and asked, do you want to try? Then he kicked me, really, he kicked me."
Transgender sex workers like Xia, Yang and Xiao - not their real names - are among the most marginalised and vulnerable populations on the mainland today, the non-profit organisation Asia Catalyst said in a detailed research report.
The 79-page report, "My Life is Too Dark to See the Light: A Survey of the Living Conditions of Transgender Female Sex Workers in Beijing and Shanghai", found that transgender sex workers suffered from intense social ostracism and economic marginalisation, leaving them vulnerable to HIV infection and abuse at the hands of law enforcement officials.
Asia Catalyst, in cooperation with two local NGOs - Beijing Zuoyou Information Centre and Shanghai CSW and MSM Centre - interviewed 70 transgender sex workers between December 2013 and September 2014 for the report. All of the interviewees - 35 each in Beijing and Shanghai - were born male, but "presented as women while doing sex work".
Although the Chinese government does not actively punish transgender people for their identity, the country's lack of non-discrimination laws and basic medical resources for transitioning leaves many transgender people feeling trapped on society's bottom rung.
The situation is different in Thailand, where last week a member of a panel drafting a new constitution said it would include the term "third gender" for the first time, in a move to empower transgender communities and ensure them fairer legal treatment. Thai law, however, does not recognise same-sex unions.
Chinese people generally do not find transgender identification socially acceptable. The social stigma has forced many transgender people to live hidden lives far from family - 97 per cent of interviewees had left their home towns. The community of transgender sex workers is diverse, including gay men, transgender people (who were born as one sex but identify as another), and transsexuals (who have undergone sex change surgery).
The report said a "considerable percentage" of transgender women in the Asia-Pacific region were sex workers. "Some people do sex work because they need to earn money - they tell us they earn more after they dress as women," said Shen Tingting, Asia Catalyst's advocacy programme director. "But everyone has different motivations." Many are unable to find other jobs, while one interviewee believed that it would help her find a partner.
Additional reporting by Reuters
