Methodology
This report is based on research conducted from December 2013 to September 2014,
by Asia Catalyst and two community partners in China, Beijing Zuoyou Information
Center and Shanghai CSW&MSM Center. Both organizations are working in the field of
HIV prevention for their target communities.
Beijing Zuoyou Information Center works predominantly with MSM and transgender
female sex workers in Beijing, providing HIV /STD rapid testing, counseling and
referrals. Their outreach service covers roughly 200 transgender female sex workers
working from home, hotels and bars. Shanghai CSW&MSM Center works with male
sex workers working in sex work establishments or in their own homes; and streetbased female and transgender female sex workers in Shanghai. They provide services
to roughly 180 transgender female sex workers in the city.
Together with Asia Catalyst, the two organizations interviewed 70 sex workers, 35 in
Beijing and 35 in Shanghai. We selected people who were born male but presented as
women while doing sex work. Interviewees were identified through the daily outreach
services of these two organizations.
Not all of the sex workers interviewed for this report identified as women. All were born
biologically male, but 30 identified themselves to us as women, 24 as male, and 16 as
a third gender. All, however, presented as female for sex work.
The research methodology used a combination of in-depth interviews and
questionnaires for all participants; verbal consent was given by all interviewees for
their responses to be used for this report. However, to preserve confidentiality, aliases
have been used for all participants of this study. Most of the interviews were carried
out in the interviewee’s home or work place (for example, in a park or on the street),
and some of the interviews were carried out in the offices of Beijing Zuoyou Information
Center and Shanghai CSW&MSM Center. Although the research was conducted in
Beijing and Shanghai, as is normal in China’s biggest cities, most of the interviewees
originated from across the country.
In addition to the interviews with the 70 sex workers, Asia Catalyst, Beijing Zuoyou
Information Center, and Shanghai CSW&MSM Center conducted interviews with nine
Chinese civil society organizations that work with transgender communities in Beijing,
5