'Give me some place to work - anywhere other than the streets'
Transgender sex workers in Indonesia know that condom use can help prevent HIV infection – but clients' refusal is fuelling Asia's fastest-growing rates of HIV infection
* Purple Romero for Panos, part of the Guardian Development Network
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guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 December 2010 17.32 GMT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2010/dec/01/world-aids-day-transgender-sex-workersWhen Bea became a sex worker in the red light district of Jakarta, Indonesia, she knew she needed to use condoms to protect herself from HIV but her clients refused to use them.
Bea, 30, is a waria – a man who has assumed a female identity. The word is derived from wanita, which means woman in Indonesian, and pria, meaning man. Whether they wear women's clothes or have undergone a full sex change operation, waria view themselves women.
"I knew the big risks that having this job would bring," she says matter-of-factly, although her voice betrays emotion.
