USAID cuts leave Nepal HIV outreach workers, including transgender staff, turning to sex work

Former HIV-prevention staff in Nepal say the end of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding left them with few means to survive. Some former employees — among them transgender workers who had been involved in HIV outreach and prevention — report they have resorted to sex work after losing their livelihoods and programs that supported HIV response efforts.

Impacts

The workers’ accounts highlight the human cost of the funding withdrawal and raise concerns about disruptions to HIV prevention services that relied on those trained outreach teams. Former staff describe limited alternatives for income and the reversal of gains made in reaching vulnerable communities, particularly transgender people who had been central to local prevention efforts, as reported by AP News

This story has also been reported by: Reuters