Palomas

The process of autonomy is the quest for many transgender women who live in support houses such as Florescer in São Paulo. With housing support, food, and social projects that enable possibilities of re-socialization, these women plan their future and uncertain dreams.

During the years 2020 and 2021 I have been documenting the lives of some of the women who currently live and previously lived in this house in order to understand how the social context in which they are inserted can impact and enhance the state of vulnerability that many of them live in and to understand the possibilities and difficulties that can be encountered during the process of autonomy and economic independence.

The images in this project present the faces and bodies that carry these stories and record the reality of their daily life. Paloma is the name of one of these women who told their stories about violence, prostitution, helplessness, imprisonment, dreams and courage.

Brazil continues to be the leader among the countries that have murdered the most trans people in the world. When survival is possible, transsexual women encounter difficulties in the social and economic context that make the right to exist in a fair and dignified way impossible. Difficulties related to health, housing, food and social relationships are part of the challenges encountered during the autonomy process, when these women seek social inclusion in search of independence.

Documenting the daily lives of transsexual women who find themselves in vulnerable conditions and in search of autonomy is a record of stories that repeat each other, it is hearing about family helplessness, prejudice and lack of access. It is a record about the urgency of changes tied to the strength and courage of these women in (re)existing.