So many struggles and in the end prostitution took away my hunger: a reflection on the reality of trans women in Cuba

Abstract

The economic crisis in Cuba has unleashed hunger and has made people leave their dignity in search of survival on the island; the Cuba presented to us by the media is only the layer that hides a reality where people decide to sell their bodies in order to feed themselves, one where the tourist attraction in the country is women giving themselves to foreigners for a better quality of life than what a conventional job can offer them. And while this is a problem that plagues all types of women, this time I will focus on trans women, who face discrimination, lack of job opportunities, police abuse and the precarious institutional development in rights that guarantee their existence in society.