Guatemala City is home to a large number of LGBTQI sex workers who wait for customers on streets where violent attacks are omnipresent. Many are refugees from other parts of Central America or small villages in Guatemala where their sexuality has not been not tolerated.
For some refugees the only apparent way to make an income is through sex work. Many cisgender males dress in women’s clothing because prospective clients find this more socially acceptable.
NGOs such as Human Rights Watch have alleged that the National Police Force has an unwritten policy of 'social cleansing', which permits violence against sections of the population - particularly gay men. Violence against women in Guatemala is committed at one of the highest rates in the world. The continuing level of violent crime is perpetuated, according to Amnesty International, by the fact that less than 4% of homicide investigations lead to convictions.
For three weeks in 2006 I traveled with the NGO ‘OASIS’ on their nightly rounds of the city as the support team did their best to protect sex workers during an escalating period of bloodshed.
