A Sisterhood of Hope: How China’s Transgender Sex Workers Cope with Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Transgender sex workers (TSWs/TSW) face considerable challenges that affect their mental health and make their situations more vulnerable and precarious. TSWs often experience violence from clients, police, and others, but it is estimated that 50% of these acts of violence are at the hands of their intimate partners. The marginalization of TSWs is fueled by abuse through isolation and shaming which prevents them from seeking help through formal channels like police or counselling services. There is limited research on intimate partner violence (IPV) involving transgender sex workers (biologically male at birth who transition to women) and their partners who are typically heterosexual/bisexual men. In China, stigmatization, homophobia, heterosexism, and transphobia structurally disadvantage TSWs and this power structure tacitly supports violence and abuse against them. To survive, TSWs rely on informal networks with their ‘sisters’ for advice and emotional support which is more effective at combatting IPV than criminal justice or social policy efforts. Ethnographic data from in-depth interviews with 25 TSWs provide insight about IPV and how informal social support is a protective factor that helps them cope with routine acts of violence. The findings identify the importance of the ‘sisterhood’ and how it protects and helps TSWs manage their physical and mental health.

The mental health of transgender and gender non-conforming people in China: a systematic review

“…18,[20][21][22] Eight research articles recruited both cisgender and TGNC participants, 19,20,[23][24][25][26][27][28] and five were on TGNC individuals. 8,12,[29][30][31] 14 research articles were on transgender women only, 14,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] among which, seven articles were on transgender women sex workers (TWSW). 33,[37][38][39]41,42,44 Most articles were collected in first or second-tier cities in mainland China (metropolitan cities).…”

“…8,12,[29][30][31] 14 research articles were on transgender women only, 14,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] among which, seven articles were on transgender women sex workers (TWSW). 33,[37][38][39]41,42,44 Most articles were collected in first or second-tier cities in mainland China (metropolitan cities). Eleven articles collected data from multiple sites.…”

“Be the Dream Queen”: Gender Performativity, Femininity, and Transgender Sex Workers in China

“…The TSWs in the sample reported that they all first wanted to become a woman when they were teenagers or pre-teens. They each had to find their own way to reconcile the overwhelming desire to become feminine, despite the stigma associated with rejecting one’s assigned sex [ 7 ]. All 49 TSWs said that embracing their femininity helped them maintain mental health.…”

“…The conventional literature involving relationships between clients and sex workers has typically examined female sex workers and heterosexual male clients [ 3 , 4 ]. The literature on TSWs tends to focus on negative aspects, such as portraying them as victims of discrimination and violence [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] or victims of HIV and STDs [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Thus, the literature calls for studies to examine how TSWs deal with stigma and discrimination as well as engage in relationships with their clients—and perhaps, more importantly—with their intimate sex partners [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Transformative emotional labour, cosmetic surgery, and masculinity: Rural/urban migration in China's gay commercial sex industry

“…Hukou encourages marginalization and tropicality The household registration system (hukou) is a key factor encouraging the marginalization and rural/urban segregation faced by the male sex workers (Kong, 2012;Tsang, 2017;Tsang, 2018;Tsang, 2020a). The household registration system also provides a permanent identification number, comparable to a social security number in the United States or the systems of permanent identification cards used in many other countries.…”