USAID Was Apparently The Only Thing Standing Between Nepal’s Trans Activists And Prostitution

Interesting nepal, prostitutes, transgender, usaid admin July 24, 2026 0 Comments

USAID Was Apparently The Only Thing Standing Between Nepal’s Trans Activists And Prostitution

Transgender activists in Nepal are claiming the only job option following USAID cuts is prostitution.

For years, transgender activists in Nepal were employed by U.S. taxpayer-funded HIV outreach programs. Following the dismantling of USAID programs, those same activists are claiming that the “conservative culture” in the country leaves sex work as the only option, according to the Associated Press (AP).

The Trump administration undertook a sweeping overhaul of U.S. foreign assistance in early 2025, arguing that American taxpayer dollars should be focused on programs that more directly advance U.S. national interests. As part of that effort, USAID was effectively dismantled and responsibility for many remaining aid programs shifted to the State Department.

As a result, approximately 280,000 humanitarian assistance jobs were eliminated globally, including roughly 35,000 in Nepal, according to the AP. (RELATED: ROOKE: Something Weird Keeps Happening Now That Trump Neutered USAID)

Roughly 100 former LGBTQ aid workers in Nepal have turned to prostitution after losing employment tied to U.S.-funded HIV prevention programs, the AP reported. Many had spent years distributing condoms, administering HIV tests and dispensing medication.

The outlet explained that many of the displaced workers are transgender and faced significant barriers to finding other employment because of Nepalese culture. After months without work and exhausting their savings, several told the organization they ultimately turned to prostitution as a last resort.

The report claims that NGOs are one of the only forms of legal work that openly transgender people can get in Nepal. The outlet highlights that former clinic employees now solicit sex along the same highway they once counseled people on.

The outcome has produced an apparent irony: programs funded by USAID were intended to reduce HIV infections and improve public health, but according to the AP’s reporting, the very people carrying out that work have now put themselves at risk of the same disease. (RELATED: Arizona Congressional Candidate Once Backed Legal Prostitution So Trans People Can ‘Provide For Themselves’)

The AP claims it spoke with 15 aid workers who have turned to prostitution; one claims that since starting to work on the street, she has contracted HIV. While she told the outlet she is scared of spreading it, she continues walking the highway at night for customers, saying that it’s either “sex work or starve.”

The outlet claims that these workers are being “forced to have unprotected sex with clients,” and that this is a kind of abuse former aid employees must now deal with. Some workers now earn only a few dollars per client while facing increased risks of violence, robbery and STD exposure.

“All of my sex worker friends, including myself, who are involved in this profession are victims of violence,” said one individual named Lama to the AP.

President Donald Trump has emphasized in a January 2025 executive order that many of the programs being funded by USAID were promoting the continuation of unethical lifestyles, such as the contraction and spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

“They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries,” the executive order reads.