Sri Lanka’s transgender community in need of ‘life-saving assistance’ amid economic crisis

Many transpeople can no longer afford rent, drugs for hormone therapy and struggle to find employment as country is mired in crisis

Struggles of transpeople are further exacerbated in conservative Sri Lanka, where they face social stigma and prosecution

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The setbacks faced by the already-marginalised community have been exacerbated by the country’s economic crisis, cutting off their access to vital hormonal therapy and rendering them unemployed and homeless. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:00pm, 28 Aug 2022Updated: 11:40pm, 20 Apr 2023

Self-employed transwoman Teena was a bridal makeup artist in Negombo, Sri Lanka, but as the country became more entrenched in an economic crisis and her client pool dried up, she lost her monthly income of about 45,000 Sri Lankan rupees (US$145) and became a sex worker.

“I cannot go hungry. I had to do something else to earn money; to be able to buy food and pay the rent. So these days I do deals,” the 33-year-old said, referring to sex work.

Even before the crisis, finding and retaining employment was already a challenge for Sri Lanka’s transgender community, who often had to hide their transgender status from their family and colleagues in the conservative South Asian nation. To avoid social stigma and workplace discrimination, many transpeople have chosen to be self-employed.

The setbacks faced by the already-marginalised community have been exacerbated by the country’s economic crisis, cutting off their access to vital hormonal therapy and rendering them unemployed and homeless.

Sri Lanka’s 22 million people have undergone months of food and fuel shortages, extended blackouts and soaring inflation. In April, it defaulted on its US$51-billion foreign debt.

In June, the United Nations said that nearly 5.7 million people in Sri Lanka were estimated to be in need of “immediate life-saving assistance”. By July, year-on-year food inflation rose to 90.9 per cent, and inflation stood at 60.8 per cent, even as the country underwent a rocky leadership change following mass protests.

Six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as president after then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in April and resigned. Photo: Reuters

Then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in April and resigned, with six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe taking over as president.

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