Power and Resistance in the Sex Markets
at the Southern Mexican Border
Poster Set Design
PhD / Doctoral Dissertation by Laura Aguirre
Berlin, Germany 2013
"This research is motivated by the concern that ‘prostitution’ exists and persists as a space of extreme marginalization, discrimination and violation of women’s human rights. In Mexico and Central America, ‘prostitution’ is usually represented as a homogeneous space formed by victims of human trafficking (migrant women) and victimizers (networks of male traffickers).
My research questions this statement and seeks to understand ‘prostitution’ at the southern border of Mexico as a complex phenomenon, based on sex workers’ perspectives. In this way my argument challenges the dichotomy victim vs. agents. I suggest that women working in ‘prostitution’ should be understood as women who experience multiple relations of power (domination) but still have the capacity of resistance and individual agency."
Laura Aguirre
Intellectual property of Karla Teceno
Photography by Edu Ponces and Toni Arnau
