Trans Involvement in the Sex Trade Statistics
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey examined 6,400 trans adults in the United States to capture their experiences. The responses revealed that trans people experience disproportionate levels of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, victimization, & incarceration. As a result it is common for trans people to engage in survival sex work
Of those surveyed, 10.8% reported participating in sex work, and an additional 2.3% reported having sex in exchange for housing. The majority of trans sex workers (TSW) reported experiencing discrimination at previous jobs in traditional employment (69.3%) [1]
Participation in the sex trade was particularly high for trans people that are black (39.9%) and Latino (33.2%)
TSWs in the United States reported substantial rates of housing insecurity, mistreatment by police, harassment and mistreatment in medical settings, and poorer than average mental health
TAMPEP, an international networking and intervention project conducted a mapping report that tracked the prostitution scene in over 25 European countries. [2]
Their research revealed that TSWs comprise 6% of the sex worker population in Europe, and it is reported that this figure does not fully depict the actual population as it is likely higher.
Note that demographic percentages have consistently reported that the overall trans population sits at ≈0.7%
The proportion of TSWs is reported to be as high as 15%-20% in countries such as Greece, France, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg. 47% of TSWs were migrants originating predominantly from Latin America
A day in the life of Latin American Transsexual sex workers in Paris [X]
In the Asia-Pacific region an extraordinarily high amount of transwomen are involved in the sex trade. This is due to institutional discrimination in various aspects of society including, but not limited to, education and employment [3]
Percentage of trans people participating in the sex industry in the Asia-Pacific region:
In the spring of 2009, the TvT project conducted research to showcase the experiences of trans people in over 8 countries. The prevalence of discrimination in employment along with economic marginalization has pushed the trans people in these countries within the margins of society [4]
This social exclusion is reflected in the statistics of trans people that engage in survival sex work.
The percentage of TSWs in some of these countries
Brazil has been reported to be the most deadliest country in the world for trans people. There is widespread marginalization that includes but is not limited to elevated risk of sexual assault, rejection from their household, and discrimination through exclusion in the work market.
In 2018 the NGO Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA) reported that 90% of the trans population in brazil is engaged in prostitution [5]
It is common to come across people claiming that the average life expectancy of black transwomen in the United States is 35 years old, but this is not the case. The source of this statistic is from a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights which examined LGBT homicide victims across North and South America. They found that the average life expectancy of Latin American transwomen was between 30 and 35 years old, and the reason for this is the substantial rate at which transwomen in this region participate in prostitution. The majority of the victims were sex workers [6]
Brazilian TSW Barbara, revealed in an interview with BBC3 that there are very few options for transsexuals in Brazil besides sex work. The discrimination is so pervasive and has forced so many trans people into the sex trade that being a transsexual is often considered synonymous with prostitute
‘If someone sees a trans they’re already thinking even if (she) isn’t a sex worker they should be doing sex work because its a label we’ve been given.
‘I once asked a friend if I could be a cleaning assistant cleaning the floors. He laughed at me and said “Barbara, you don’t look like a cleaner.” And i said “I need to work”.’ - Barbara [7]
