Meet Romanian sex-worker and LGBTQ+ activist: Antonella Lerca Duda
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda
By Lorena Cristea
Imagine living in the 21st century where people are being discriminated against based on their sexual preferences and gender? Well, this is what is currently happening in south-eastern Europe, more specifically Romania, where the LGBTQ+ community are still fighting for their own rights.
Antonella Lerca Duda is well-known in the Romanian community for her activism. The 34-year-old woman has worked within the sex industry for over a decade now, stating that this is her only opportunity to earn a living for people like her, since their identity is not recognised by the Romanian authorities.
“Most of the transgender women living in Romania are sex-workers,” she says.
In Romania, there still is stigma regarding the LGBTQ+ community, and although things have slightly changed “as slow, or even slower than a snail,” as Antonella describes, after the Communist Revolution in 1989, there is still plenty of work to do.
The opportunities in Romania for trans people are limited. She recalls one episode in which a landlord refused her as a tenant.
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda
“The trans women are faced with difficulties in society, since they cannot change their IDs and identity documents in Romania, because it’s a challenging process, in which you need to provide money, lawyers, and you have to go through a humiliating procedure,”
“When we try to rent a house or open a bank account, often the document doesn’t reflect reality of when transphobia and discrimination are coming into discussion,” she says.
Life in Italy and the start of sex-work
At age 17, Antonella decided to leave her motherland and move to Italy with her then-boyfriend, where she lived for more than 11 years. They wanted to build up a better life for each other, since he was there before, she told Hoezine.
Antonella said that the marginalisation she was challenged with as a child pushed her to move to Italy so she could have better welfare.
It was difficult for her at first to fit in, as she did not speak Italian, and the stigma remained due to her nationality, she describes.
“The life of an immigrant is pretty harsh. If you don’t speak the language, people tend to run away from you, to ignore you. There was discrimination specifically towards Romanian people, as Romanians are considered troublemakers everywhere they go, and therefore I was faced with various situations of discrimination,” says the sex-worker activist.
Therefore, Antonella had to learn the language and the important institutions step-by-step, so she would later call on the non-governmental services to help her finish her transition.
“I had to start working in the sex industry so I can pay for my transition surgeries, for rent, to eat, to basically live,” says the activist when recalling her experience as an immigrant.
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda
Italy doesn’t discriminate trans people as much as Romania does.
As for her experience as a trans woman in Italy, she only had good things to say.
“I was helped in my transition process by the non-governmental associations [in Italy]. They supported me during my journey, and I can say I have found genuinely nice people on my way,” says Antonella.
When it comes to comparing the perspectives of the two countries she lived in, she states that the risks of people harassing trans people on the street were less likely to happen in Italy than in Romania, where this happens regularly.
From politicians and doctors to regular people: everyone goes to sex-workers.
Antonella also opened the topic of sex-work in Romania. Since 2014, prostitution in the south-eastern European country has been granted as an administrative offence and the ones caught practicing or soliciting are subjected to a fine. (https://www.streetchildren.org/legal-atlas/map/romania/status-offences/can-the-law-cause-commercially-sexually-exploited-children-to-be-criminalised/).
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda
Although sex-work is considered an offence, that does not stop Romanian authorities from visiting the escorts. Ms. Antonella claims that she has a variety of clients, with politicians and doctors included.
“They crave for the thrill that banned commodities have to offer, they’re attracted to that, and therefore things are the way they are when it comes to prostitution,” she states.
Sex-work is what made me the person I am today
Many things are said regarding sex-work, and everybody has an opinion on it, whether it’s good or bad. However, she hesitates to guide others towards this career, as it leads to many risks, including violence and hatred.
“I wouldn’t recommend those who are considering starting a career in sex-work to do it, I believe they should finish all their options first, and then maybe join the sex industry if they cannot afford buying food anymore.
“I have been through so much since I started to work in this industry, and it’s pretty dangerous to live this way,” she then comments.
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda
What is Antonella doing today?
Apart from sex-work, she is actively running several campaigns for the transgender community who struggle with their identity in Romania, which she does by being active on social media, in the press, television, and many more.
In 2020, she was a candidate for a Council position in District 2, Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. Antonella campaigned for a better maintenance of the district, as she says she “wanted cleaner streets, lightning during the night, or police patrolling on the streets for the sake of women’s safety.”
She wanted to make the change and show that trans women within the sex industry have brains, too. Hence, the name of her campaign: A District for Everyone. Whilst she had a competent team of volunteers behind, she did not win the elections.
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda
She did not stop advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, as she also published a book by the name Sex work is work: a transgender story, where she talks in depth about her life and the inequality she has faced. She projects the unfortunate events through humour, yet stays positive about good things happening eventually. She is hoping that maybe, ‘in a hundred years’, as she jokes, justice will finally be served in Romania, and people will have the right to love regardless of gender and sexuality. (https://www.goodreads.com/ro/book/show/56481910)
Courtesy of Antonella Lerca Duda