A transgender woman has revealed she was 'raped more than 2000 times' while she was behind bars at a men's prison in Queensland.
The woman, born a man, known as Mary, detailed her horrific ordeal at the notorious Boggo Road Prison in Brisbane during the 1990s.
'You are basically set upon with conversations about being protected in return for sex,' Mary told news.com.au.
'It was rape and yes I was flogged and bashed to the point where I knew I had to do it in order to survive, but survival was basically for other prisoners' pleasure.'
Mary spent about four years in prison for stealing a car, an act she said she was punished for by having to live through 'hell on earth'.
Mary also spoke about the degrading moment she was forced to strip naked for a body-check when she first arrived at the prison, and how other inmates knew she was transgender just minutes later when she made it to her cell.
So horrific was the treatment, Mary tried to escape three times, saying she had to flee to get away from the abuse.
During her time behind bars, Mary was also denied her hormone treatments, meaning she started to regrow facial hair within a week.
She also told the story of a fellow transgender inmate who committed suicide after she was sentenced to go back to prison after breaching parole.
The pain of what Mary suffered while locked up has stayed with her since she left prison, and as a result she has not been able to build a 'normal life'.
'We are human beings and most of us were born this way and we want to just live our lives but are ridiculed by society because we have the guts to be who we are,' Mary said.