Inside the secret world of transgender sex workers in Australia.

Transgender men and women are highly marginalised in terms of access to employment, health care and housing, and also endure disproportionate amounts of discrimination and violence.

Many enter sex work as a means to survive.

Yet many Australians are unaware of the daily difficulties faced by this remarkable community.

Three brave transgender women, from high-class escorts to street prostitutes, shared their stories with Four Corners.

Daniella: Could not find a job as a transgender woman.

Daniella always knew she wanted to be a girl. Born and raised in the Philippines, she began transitioning into a woman when she was 16 years old.

“You know, we live in a mean world,” she said.

“So acceptance? Maybe there’s acceptance. I know we’re being tolerated.

“But I’m just scared. If I say something, would it make people judge me? Or should I keep it to myself and live my life as it is?”

A talented stylist, Daniella said the task of transgender people getting a good job in Australia is extremely and unfairly difficult.

“It is very hard,” she said.

“Most of the trans world is only marginalised when it comes to having a job.

“If you’re a trans, out there, you can see trans people in parlours, like my friends, like beauticians, it’s only basic jobs.

“There’s no job. You would not let yourself loiter in the street. You have to make ends meet.”

Due to systemic discrimination, many transgender people end up doing sex work because they cannot find gainful employment.

Divina: Recovering from years of drug abuse.

Divina had to escape poverty and abuse to get to Australia. She is now the main breadwinner for her family and sends money home every month.

“Being transgender is not [a] very easy task, it’s not [a] very easy life,” she said.

“We fight for our rights and we live in a very hard situation.”

Unable to get a job even as a cleaner, Divina’s friend introduced her to escorting.

She was quickly exposed to clients offering free drugs and more money.

At the request of clients, Divina began using ice. Addicted, she spiralled into a drug-induced psychosis.

“When you’re on drugs, you’re very energetic. You’re very strong and you cannot feel any pain in your body,” she said.

“I took drugs before for five days. I didn’t eat, I didn’t have water. No sleep for seven days.

“I drank shampoo. I eat the make-up sponge. To make me beautiful inside and out. I ate the ants, I ate the grass. Then I started hallucinating.

“I went crazy. I felt that a spirit came to my body.”

Divina is now in court-appointed rehab.

She has remained drug-free since her arrest by police in April this year.

Nora: Living with mental and physical illness.

Nora is a gentle giant.

Her life began in Greece, neglected and routinely beaten as a child. Tragically, life was better in jail than at home.

“I got locked up in prison for six months, I was happy. For six months. I wanted to stay there,” she said.

“I had friends, they loved me.

“They won’t beat me, they won’t bash me, they won’t smash my head, smash my bones, and [say] ‘go do this go, work and bring money to the house and you have to be the slave to your mum and dad’.”

In Australia, every single day is a struggle for Nora.

On the poverty line, dealing with mental and physical illness, Nora turned to street prostitution in order to make ends meet and feed her drug addiction.

The risk of transmissible disease is ever-present.

“I might die today, I don’t know,” Nora said.

“But I have to enjoy everything up to the limit.

“I am what I am. Take drugs and prostitution. All my clients and all my partners, they’re not normal people. They don’t have a day job but I am good.

“I’m a good person. I am trying.”

This post originally appeared on the ABC and was republished here with full permission. 

© 2015 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Read the ABC Disclaimer here. 

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