Jaye
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
‘If we have really created a world in which undiagnosed women start sex working in order to afford getting medical diagnoses, this is the most terrible system.’
Doctors recently diagnosed Jaye, a sex worker in their 20s, as autistic. Jaye, who identifies as genderqueer, came to Australia several years ago.
‘I always felt a bit odd at home. Never fitted in. Didn’t know why. Oh well, autism, but I didn’t know this [at the time],’ Jaye told the Royal Commission. They said they experienced sexual abuse and ‘other violence’ during his childhood.
Jaye stayed in Australia on a student visa and started working part-time in the hospitality industry.
‘And the few job offers I got was cash in hand $16 an hour … I never wanted to work illegally. You know at the time the student visa had restrictions of 40 hours per fortnight. That’s not much to survive in Australia.’
Jaye at first dated men who paid for a meal and had a ‘warm bed for the night’.
‘You know, just something nicer than the hostel where the heater didn’t work. And I didn’t realise at the time that this is already a form of sex work.’
Jaye was sometimes assaulted, but didn’t always recognise it as abuse.
‘I was definitely taken advantage of due to undiagnosed disability. Men definitely picked me as naïve … I didn’t have many friends growing up. I thought this [abuse] was normal.’
Jaye also has anxiety, depression and a history of ‘meltdowns’. They occasionally ended up in hospital.
‘Nobody could diagnose me. The only thing I kept hearing is, “It could be borderline or bipolar [disorders].” And borderline is something that like half of my brothel was diagnosed with because apparently that’s the one diagnosis they keep giving to sex workers.’
Jaye said ‘around one in two’ sex workers identify as a person with disability.
‘There are wheelchair users. People with cerebral palsy. People with intellectual disabilities. So many autistic and [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] ADHD late-diagnosed people.’
Many also have undiagnosed disability.
‘A lot of us start pursuing sex work because it’s the only way we could survive with so many undiagnosed disabilities … I’m starting to have the feeling that maybe the world has, you know, stopped diagnosing women.’
Jaye said sex workers they know ‘keep getting rejected’ by disability support services because of their sex work, ‘even though a disability is the reason why [they] are working’.
‘The money is good. You’re able to definitely survive on 40 hours per fortnight and even pay for like going to different psychologists and psychiatrists.’
Jaye said although sex work is decriminalised, police still treat sex workers as perpetrators of crimes, not victims.
‘Every single time when I went into the police station and said, “This guy has assaulted me. This guy has threatened me,” they first were like, “We have to figure out what we should charge you with.”’
Jaye told the Royal Commission that they would like other job choices, but options for people with disability are limited.
‘I think it’s honestly about choices. I would love to have employment which is disability friendly and which makes enough so that I can work, you know, just cover basic needs, food, rent et cetera.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.