Due to high levels of stigma, many are forced out of conventional education and employment, resulting in high rates of poverty, with many resorting to begging or prostitution to survive.

Transgender activist Abhina Aher described her experience of transitioning as a painful physical and psychological transformation, saying, "I just wanted to become a beautiful butterfly".

Seema Kumar, a transgender woman from Mumbai, described being abandoned, homeless, and facing abuse before finding work in a beauty salon. Progress and Legal Recognition