Indonesian trans women engaged in survival sex work are especially hurt by climate change as longer rainy seasons increasingly prevent them from making a living and expose them to greater violence, Context reports. Trans women are especially stigmatized in Indonesian society — historically accepting of gender fluidity, but becoming more oppressive due to a rise of conservative Islam — and are pushed out of the formal economy, and literally outside into the elements.
“No one is coming out during the longer rainy season,” Joya Patiha, a 43-year-old transgender woman, who did sex work for 10 years in Bandung. “It is very hard to make money during that unpredictable weather.”
Survival sex work is a complex topic for gender minorities. Many cultures heavily discriminate against trans women, but because of the cross cultural driving desire for trans women sexually, survival sex work has historically prevented the community from being wiped out economically in many contexts around the world, including in Indonesia and the U.S.
Indonesian government plans to protect vulnerable groups from climate change mention “[cisgender] women, the elderly, and people with disabilities,” Arif Budi Darmawan, a researcher at the Bandung-based Resilience Development Initiative, told Context, “but there is no provision for sexual and gender minorities.” The means trans women, who face even more exclusion than other LGBTQ+ groups, are among the hardest hit by extreme weather. “Climate change makes the vulnerable even more vulnerable,” Darmawan said. (Context)