Transgender migration and displacement: the experience of khwaja sira sex workers in Lahore

Abstract

This study uses an aspirations-capabilities framework to provide insight into transgender mobility based on in-depth interviews with 30 khwaja sira sex workers in Lahore. Respondents narrated mobility as a defining and persistent feature of their lives linked to their gender variance and experience of everyday violence and discrimination. Mobilities were experienced as oppressive or liberating depending on how much control they provided sex workers within managing risk in their lives. Respondents differentiated between two main forms of mobility: migration and displacement. Descriptions of migration included movement from their family of birth to a khwaja sira community as well as between khwaja sira communities, and entailed both rural-urban and inter-city travel. Unforced migration was associated with resilience as it increased sex workers control over the social environment. Experiences of forced and intra-city movement resulting from everyday interactions with clients and law enforcement agents were seen as displacement. These experiences resulted in enhanced social, physical, and occupational vulnerability and decreased khwaja sira sex workers’ control over their social environment.

Keywords:

• sex workers
• violence
• migration
• displacement
• transgender

Acknowledgements

I thank all the khwaja sira sex workers that participated in the study and who generously took the time to share their opinions, thoughts, and insights. I also thank Rahla Rahat for her invaluable advice and supervision of this research and Syed Ahad Muhammad Ali for his support during the fieldwork.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Deras are all-khwaja sira households that operate under a traditional guru-chela relationship. The guru is an elderly khwaja sira who acts as the paternal or maternal head of the household. Chelas on the other hand, are the disciples who provide social and financial support to the guru in return for recognition within the khwaja sira community (Nisar 2016).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.