Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada: Community Amid Hardships

I found this book very interesting, and I'd characterize it as a page turner. This novel was different than those we have read so far, as it focused on "travestis", which I understand to be a Latin term associated with individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex they were given at birth. Engaging with the stories of those who reside in this demographic was interesting, as it is not something I have read much about before. 

In the particular context of this story, the identities of the travestis are closely connected to social dynamics such as sex work. This theme of sex work actually made me think back to a course I took in first year: Canadian Politics. Here, we learned about the evolution of sex work legislation in Canada. In Bedford v. Canada (2013), the Supreme Court struck down prostitution laws on the grounds that they placed sex workers at risk. Subsequently, Parliament passed the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (2014), which criminalized purchasing sexual services but did NOT criminalize the sale of such services. The main takeaway from this case study was that criminalizing sex work can make an already dangerous profession even riskier, so Parliament instead focused on criminalizing the purchase of sexual services in an effort to reduce demand and protect sex workers. Anyways, I apologize for this little legislation lesson - can you tell I want to go to law school? 

Now to connect this dynamic to the novel: I think the experiences of the travestis in this story illustrate how working in the shadows carries incredible threats at various levels. These threats become more dangerous when the work is pushed further underground. In this case, the park was "ruined entirely when they flooded it with light" and "it was decided that the underground world in which we plied our trade, the beautiful shadows, needed to come to an end" (156). The thing is, the work does not necessarily disappear. Rather, it may continue out of sight, in ways that are more dangerous for those partaking in it. And here, the lives of the travestis were negatively impacted because they lost their connection with one another, as they lost their central gathering place.

One thing I found particularly admirable about this novel is how it highlights the sense of community among the travestis despite the incredible hardships they face. For instance, Auntie Encarna's pink house is in the first few pages described as "the safest possible place for them" (5). 

The image I chose for this novel is what I imagined of the travestis running around in the night by the park and on the streets.

My question for the class: Does cracking down on sex work address the underlying issues within the industry, or does it just push sex work deeper into the shadows?