Transgender Sex Workers in Nepal

These transgender sex workers operate in the shadows

alongside a busy highway in central Nepal, risking their lives for a few dollars.

Until recently, many of them worked not as sex workers, but as aid workers,

including Ruby Lama,

who dedicated years of her life to

helping prevent the spread of HIV in Nepal's marginalized communities.

But after the US had its foreign aid funding, Ruby and around 300 000

other aid workers worldwide lost their jobs. With no other employment available,

she is surviving now by working the streets, alongside the very people she once

fought so hard to help.

The first night was a little stressful.

When I came, I was a little nervous,

because I didn't know what to say or who to talk to.

Before, when the US had its funding,

condoms were free,

and lubricants were not distributed by other NGOs.

One of our friends, a transgender woman,

distributed condoms for free.