The global USAID cuts which affected more than 280,000 aid workers has made former HIV prevention workers in Nepal, including transgender outreach staff turn to sex work fir survival after losing their jobs.
The Associated Press reports many of such workers including 28-year-old Rubi Lama, a transgender woman who spent nearly a decade conducting HIV prevention outreach among marginalized groups in Nepal have had to take the sex work alternative after being left stranded.
Global USAID Funding Cuts
Global USAID funding cuts were announced in an executive order Trump signed on January 20, 2025, his first day in office, which froze foreign development assistance for 90 days to evaluate its alignment with his administration’s goals. Health experts have since warned that the consequences of the cuts could extend beyond lost livelihoods.
The withdrawal of U.S.-funded HIV prevention programmes has also reduced access to HIV prevention medicines and outreach services, increasing concerns that HIV infections could rise among sex workers and LGBTQ+ communities globally.
Advocates say the loss of both jobs and healthcare support has created a dangerous cycle in which former public health workers now face the same risks they once worked to prevent, including exposure to HIV and gender-based violence.
