Growing old as a trans woman sex worker: A scoping review

Although older trans women sex workers have been denied access to the support structures available in the community and although their vulnerability is known to increase as they age, little research has been conducted on this subject. This scoping review aimed to address gaps in the literature by collecting data from the peer-reviewed and grey literature that deal with the experiences and characteristics of older trans women sex workers.

A scoping review was conducted using the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A search was carried out using EBSCO, PubMed, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science, as well as sources of unpublished studies and the grey literature. Of the 963 documents initially identified, 26 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis method (Braun & Clarke).

Trans women sex workers are considered old prematurely, which contributes to less attractiveness and value in the sex market. This, combined with the challenges of trans aging per se, can increase their vulnerability. According to the data, trans women sex workers may face more risks as they get older because they lose value in the sex market, often their only source of income. In contrast, younger trans women see them as being more experienced, as having witnessed and survived violence, and sometimes as maternal figures ("Trans Mothers"). Some strategies for dealing with aging were identified, such as trying to appear as young as possible and, when this is no longer feasible, resorting to dangerous and painful strategies such as 'passing as' (being mistaken for cisgender women) or "de-transformation" (returning to an identity that is socially consistent with the sex assigned at birth). Finally, these results showed the need for and the importance of implementing protective policies for this population.

Older trans women sex workers face major access barriers to fundamental social rights, which, combined with the challenges of growing older, have disallowed them from surviving aging. Some practical implications and suggestions for future research are provided. This scoping review protocol is registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF).