Mama Tere Strickland, a respected youth worker, transgender advocate and former sex worker, was buried at Manukau Memorial Gardens on Tuesday after a tangi held at Otara's Whaiora Marae. She died on August 3 of a suspected heart attack, age 49.

Born into an abusive family, Strickland was 11 when she fled her Otara home and began her life on the streets. She was a sex worker for 25 years before leaving the industry and co-founding Te Aronga Hou Inaianei, an agency aimed at helping prostitutes leave the sex industry, and run through Mangere East Family Service.
She was made a life member of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation in 2010 for her work to prevent HIV and AIDS and was a list candidate for the Maori Party in the 2005 election.

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