KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — She was sent to a men’s prison for cross-dressing, stripped naked, forced to expose her breasts and fellate the inmates — all at the age of 21.

Now 37, Malacca-born Nisha Ayub is one of Malaysia’s most prominent transgender activists and does she have a life story worth telling.

It may happen soon too, as she shared with Malay Mail Online recently. The co-founder of two transgender rights NGOs — the SEED Foundation and Justice for Sisters — is considering writing an autobiography for a US publisher after she was approached while there to receive the US Secretary of State’s 2016 International Women of Courage Award.

“She’s very, very eager for me to do so, but I told her — give me some time, I need to concentrate on my work back home here first,” said the first trans woman to win the US award in its 10-year history.

She declined to name the publisher for the time being. But Nisha’s rollercoaster life experiences in just a decade-and-a-half would definitely fill many pages.

Nisha said she was arrested in her home state and jailed three months at the age of 21 under Shariah law for cross-dressing. Despite her pleas, the Shariah court judge sent her to the Kajang men’s prison in Selangor.

“He said he’s sending me to prison because he wants me to come back as a man,” she said.

Nisha recalled how she was forced to strip naked in front of the inmates and wardens. She alleged that as she was taken to her cell, she was stopped at each block and told to lift her shirt to show her breasts to the inmates. Nisha had undergone a breast implant surgery when she was 20.

Nisha also alleged that during breakfast the next day, six to seven men pushed her to one corner and forced her to perform oral sex on them.

“It was my first-time experience of sex and it was forced. It was scary, it was really scary,” she said.

She added that she tried to commit suicide in prison, but was unable to tie her shirt to the ceiling because it was too high.

Nisha isolated herself for a few months upon her release from prison and engaged in self-harming behaviour like cutting. But she got a job eventually at a nightclub as a guest relations officer, a “big switch from working with society”, as she previously worked as a receptionist at a hotel.

The transgender activist said she also did sex work at the club to financially support her mother, as she earned about RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month at her job, which she said was “a lot” of money at the time. Her earnings allowed her to buy two cars at the time and upgrade to a bigger property from a “kampung” house.

Nisha said she worked at the club since she was 21 for five years while doing part-time work by dancing at “paperdoll” shows, cabaret-like performances featuring trans women. She did such performances twice a week and could earn RM300 to RM400 a day.

“It was a luxurious time for me,” said Nisha. “But I wasn’t happy because being with men who’s actually somebody’s husband, it made me feel guilty”.

When she turned 28, she left her lucrative job for part-time work as an outreach worker at HIV/AIDS non-profit PT Foundation in Kuala Lumpur that paid just RM800 a month. She also left her house in Malacca for a public housing flat in the big city.

“I wanted to do something for the community,” Nisha said. “I felt happy that I was not touched by all these men”.

Within a year, PT Foundation promoted Nisha to coordinator and the next year, she was the manager for the “Mak Nyah” programme. Nisha then moved from HIV/AIDS work to transgender and human rights.

“Even when I started to do my organisation here right now, with SEED, I don’t just work with trans, I work with females. I work with people living with HIV/AIDS. So there’s a lot of community which is marginalised here.

“The issue is not just about trans specifically. It’s about the whole marginalised community,” said Nisha.

Nisha said some trans people have expressed fear for their safety from her highlighting transgender issues, but stressed that the majority support her.

“I tell the community — if you don’t take a step right now, it’ll never change,” she said. “I told them you have to think about future trans people. Do you want them to go through the same situation that we go [through]?”

“I’m here because my main intention is to fight for the community”.