Keeping Up with the Transition: Sex for Compensation and Women with Asylum and Transgender Experiences in Sweden
(2023) SIMV21 20231Graduate School
Master of Science in Social Studies of Gender
- Abstract
- This thesis focuses on the practice of sex for compensation performed by women with transgender and asylum experiences living in Sweden. It aims to explore the complexities of sex for compensation by positioning this practice as both strategy and a tactic for obtaining income used for gender affirmation, considering that gender-affirmative healthcare is not available for asylum seekers in Sweden. The thesis analyzes the multiplicity and intersections of nine women’s narratives derived from nine semi-structured interviews and three hundred twenty-six hours of participant observation, including autobiographical elements of the author. The focus of this study does not lay on legal or ethical aspects of sex for compensation but on lived... (More)
- This thesis focuses on the practice of sex for compensation performed by women with transgender and asylum experiences living in Sweden. It aims to explore the complexities of sex for compensation by positioning this practice as both strategy and a tactic for obtaining income used for gender affirmation, considering that gender-affirmative healthcare is not available for asylum seekers in Sweden. The thesis analyzes the multiplicity and intersections of nine women’s narratives derived from nine semi-structured interviews and three hundred twenty-six hours of participant observation, including autobiographical elements of the author. The focus of this study does not lay on legal or ethical aspects of sex for compensation but on lived experiences and acts within positionalities of women with transgender and asylum-seeking identities in Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg. Their narratives are structured in the thesis around their accounts on waiting, the dimension of appreciated accessibility in selling sex, the derivation of empowerment and pleasure from it, as well as a dimension of vulnerability. The thesis concludes that sex for compensation practiced by interviewees is sometimes agential, sometimes precarious, and sometimes paradoxically both at once. This practice is cherished by them due to being relatively easy to access, being able to give social confirmation to their female identities and being able to give sexual gratification. The author concludes that sex for compensation can be seen as a consequence of waiting for approval from authorities to access transgender healthcare, the highest priority and acute necessity of the women in focus. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- Imagine living in Sweden with twenty-four Swedish kronor per day, while not being allowed to get medical assistance from your doctor for something that you consider as a critical need. The scenario that you are imagining right now is a reality for some of the individuals whom my thesis will introduce you to.
In a political moment when public debates about transgender healthcare and migration politics are central, this thesis focuses on nine women who have both transgender and migrant identity, live in Sweden, and sell sex to pay for their social and medical transition. While the decision to obtain funds in this way is their own, it is also a result of their circumstances. Namely, asylum seekers in Sweden do not have access to... (More) - Imagine living in Sweden with twenty-four Swedish kronor per day, while not being allowed to get medical assistance from your doctor for something that you consider as a critical need. The scenario that you are imagining right now is a reality for some of the individuals whom my thesis will introduce you to.
In a political moment when public debates about transgender healthcare and migration politics are central, this thesis focuses on nine women who have both transgender and migrant identity, live in Sweden, and sell sex to pay for their social and medical transition. While the decision to obtain funds in this way is their own, it is also a result of their circumstances. Namely, asylum seekers in Sweden do not have access to transgender healthcare. This thesis suggests that women who engage in sex for compensation are both empowered by it and made vulnerable at the same time. Sex for compensation is attractive to them because it gives them easy access to money, reinforces their sense of being feminine when being desired by heterosexual men, and provides sexual pleasure. This is a conclusion from the interviews with them and participant observation, in combination with personal reflections of me as the author who share many identities with the research participants.
The stories of these women are significant because they provide readers with an opportunity to hear about their experiences directly. Instead of reading statistics and listening to public discourse about sex for compensation, asylum, and transgender people, the pages that you are about to read open doors to their intimacy and emotions. They intentionally opened these doors because all ten of them, including me, want to humanize their circumstances and leave a space for interventions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9126774
- author
- Anttila, Ines LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SIMV21 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- sex for compensation, transgender, asylum, gender affirmation, waiting, strategy, tactic.
- language
- English
- additional info
- Assessment and examination completed by Professor Åsa Lundqvist.
Grade: A.
To get in touch with author Ines Anttila, please write to inesanohni@gmail.com. - id
- 9126774
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-21 14:28:28
- date last changed
- 2023-06-21 14:28:28
@misc{9126774,
abstract = {{This thesis focuses on the practice of sex for compensation performed by women with transgender and asylum experiences living in Sweden. It aims to explore the complexities of sex for compensation by positioning this practice as both strategy and a tactic for obtaining income used for gender affirmation, considering that gender-affirmative healthcare is not available for asylum seekers in Sweden. The thesis analyzes the multiplicity and intersections of nine women’s narratives derived from nine semi-structured interviews and three hundred twenty-six hours of participant observation, including autobiographical elements of the author. The focus of this study does not lay on legal or ethical aspects of sex for compensation but on lived experiences and acts within positionalities of women with transgender and asylum-seeking identities in Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg. Their narratives are structured in the thesis around their accounts on waiting, the dimension of appreciated accessibility in selling sex, the derivation of empowerment and pleasure from it, as well as a dimension of vulnerability. The thesis concludes that sex for compensation practiced by interviewees is sometimes agential, sometimes precarious, and sometimes paradoxically both at once. This practice is cherished by them due to being relatively easy to access, being able to give social confirmation to their female identities and being able to give sexual gratification. The author concludes that sex for compensation can be seen as a consequence of waiting for approval from authorities to access transgender healthcare, the highest priority and acute necessity of the women in focus.}},
author = {{Anttila, Ines}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Keeping Up with the Transition: Sex for Compensation and Women with Asylum and Transgender Experiences in Sweden}},
year = {{2023}},
}