“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume... No man is an island, entire of itself... any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” John Donne
SOS Dignity began in 2005 as a photographic project by Barry Michael Wolfe in the São Paulo underworld. These portraits were edited, developed, signed 
, and presented as gifts to the travestis who in many instances sent them to their families, since they found them to be the only dignified records they had of themselves.
Travestis - people who were born men and present themselves as women - are the single most marginalized group in Brazil. Travestis are vulnerable to exploitation by clients, pimps and traffickers, not to mention arbitrary violence from police, organized crime, clients and the general public.
The travestis’ subculture is “pre-political”: below the level of protection of both local and international laws. In fact, their plight does not reach the agenda of law enforcement agencies and NGOs that deal with human trafficking and slavery. Consequently, attempts to attack exploitation and trafficking through political or legal actions tend to result in further suffering on the part of the victims.
SOS DIGNITY was therefore conceived to pursue human rights activism through emergency legal and health protection (physical and mental), education, employability and dignity enhancement.
We believe that there exists a solidarity among us as human beings that makes each co-responsible for every wrong and every injustice in the world, especially for wrongs committed in our presence or with our knowledge. If we fail to do whatever we can to prevent them, we too are guilty.
, and presented as gifts to the travestis who in many instances sent them to their families, since they found them to be the only dignified records they had of themselves.
Travestis - people who were born men and present themselves as women - are the single most marginalized group in Brazil. Travestis are vulnerable to exploitation by clients, pimps and traffickers, not to mention arbitrary violence from police, organized crime, clients and the general public.
The travestis’ subculture is “pre-political”: below the level of protection of both local and international laws. In fact, their plight does not reach the agenda of law enforcement agencies and NGOs that deal with human trafficking and slavery. Consequently, attempts to attack exploitation and trafficking through political or legal actions tend to result in further suffering on the part of the victims.
SOS DIGNITY was therefore conceived to pursue human rights activism through emergency legal and health protection (physical and mental), education, employability and dignity enhancement.
We believe that there exists a solidarity among us as human beings that makes each co-responsible for every wrong and every injustice in the world, especially for wrongs committed in our presence or with our knowledge. If we fail to do whatever we can to prevent them, we too are guilty.
A society is judged by the way it treats its most marginalized people. If one group of people is deprived of their dignity, the society as a whole has no dignity.
In four years, SOS Dignity has developed from a photographic project into a multidisciplinary human rights movement.
In four years, SOS Dignity has developed from a photographic project into a multidisciplinary human rights movement.
Our goals
- To protect the victims of exploitation and to raise their self esteem so that they will not fall prey to traffickers and exploiters.
- To do away with clandestine medical practices.
- To sponsor the education of a critical mass of travesti doctors, lawyers and dentists.
- To bring Brazil’s travestis under the full protection of the law and enable them to enjoy the full range or rights as citizens.
- To reduce the vulnerability of travestis’ to DST/AIDS, drug abuse and self-destructive behavior in general.
- To combat discrimination.
- To create employment opportunities and prepare travestis for employment other than prostitution.
AIDS, Health Risks and Drug Abuse
Travesti sex workers are especially susceptible to drug abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.
Poverty, illicit cosmetic practices, and severely limited access to sympathetic and compassionate health care expose travestis to grave health problems.
The general discrimination and humiliation they experience in dealing with government bureaucracy often serves to dissuade them from seeking assistance from public health services.
Travestis routinely have their bodies transformed by massive doses of hormones and silicone pumping, often with little or no proper medical supervision, as well as having breast implants and other types of plastic surgery.
Travesti sex workers are especially susceptible to drug abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection.
Poverty, illicit cosmetic practices, and severely limited access to sympathetic and compassionate health care expose travestis to grave health problems.
The general discrimination and humiliation they experience in dealing with government bureaucracy often serves to dissuade them from seeking assistance from public health services.
Travestis routinely have their bodies transformed by massive doses of hormones and silicone pumping, often with little or no proper medical supervision, as well as having breast implants and other types of plastic surgery.
Silicone “pumping”
The clandestine injection of unfiltered industrial silicone into buttocks, legs, and sometimes breasts and faces, is a staple of many travestis’ lives, and creates health problems unique to this community. The adverse effects of pumping can be disfiguring and even fatal. They include silicone dropping down into the ankles and feet, the immune system’s rejection of silicone, and silicone entering the bloodstream or vital organs.
The clandestine injection of unfiltered industrial silicone into buttocks, legs, and sometimes breasts and faces, is a staple of many travestis’ lives, and creates health problems unique to this community. The adverse effects of pumping can be disfiguring and even fatal. They include silicone dropping down into the ankles and feet, the immune system’s rejection of silicone, and silicone entering the bloodstream or vital organs.
Desperation
Travestis are often rejected by their families and expelled from their home, and can begin working as prostitutes as early as age 12.
Travestis suffer from an acute lack of affection and absence of emotional support, and in many cases send some or even all the money they earn back to the same parents who rejected them in hope of a show of tenderness.
The combined effects of discrimination, humiliation, fear, low self-esteem, lack of education and isolation from mainstream society place immense emotional strains on Brazil’s travestis. They tend to live for the present, believing that their beauty will not last long and knowing that their prospects for a decent life beyond age 30 are extremely limited.
The risk of falling into cynicism and despair is enormous as is the pressure to seek relief in drug abuse and subsequent addiction, as well as succumbing to criminality. In extreme cases, they engage in behavior where AIDS becomes almost inevitable.
Those who escape these pitfalls display remarkable courage and strength of character.
Human Beings or Human Trash?
The deep structural and social problems faced by the poor in Brazil, combined with the isolation and discrimination encountered by travestis, conspire against their attainment of the most basic human and legal rights.
Homophobic violent crimes are notorious in Brazil and the worst victims are travestis. Notwithstanding this fact, travestis are discriminated against by heterosexuals and homosexuals alike.
As a result, many tend to live in their own hermetically sealed world with few points of contact with mainstream society.
Prevailing bigotry effectively bars most travestis from the educational system and from middle-class careers.
Their relegation to low-end prostitution renders travestis subject to violence from the police, clients, passers-by, street gangs and pimps. Such violence includes beatings, rape, torture, and shootings, not to mention intimidation and extortion. In some Brazilian cities police violence towards travestis is institutionalized.
The fact that travestis can be bought and sold by pimps and traffickers as commodities is confirmation of their dehumanization.
A Pre-political Underworld
Considered by many in society as “freaks of nature” the travestis’ underworld displays certain characteristics of primitive social movements.
Denied the basic human, civil and political rights enjoyed by other citizens, their subculture is pre-political - “in perpetual ferment but, as a mass, incapable of providing a centralised expression for their aspirations and their needs” *
Bonded together by society’s rejection, their culture is ritualistic, with its own patois and rights of passage. Travestis often live in groups which play the role of an extended family whose leader is referred to as “Godmother” and who provides not only basic living and social conditions but also the value system its members are required to adhere to.
While these leaders in many cases administer prostitution, loan sharking and trafficking activities, in other instances, Godmothers nurture their travestis and provide significant guidance and emotional support. A Godmother’s character and outlook are crucial in determining whether her workers will be guided toward or away from criminal behavior and drug abuse.
* Antonio Gramsci, writing of South Italian peasants in the 1920s.
Human Trafficking and Slavery
Under international law, many travestis are victims of human trafficking because, with or without their consent, they are transported for the purposes of exploitation by persons who have power over them as a result of their vulnerability and who will control them. *
Trafficked travestis are victims of slavery to the extent that they are:
Owned, controlled and forced to work through threats and intimidation;
Dehumanized, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as “property”; and
Tied to their controller as long as their “debts”, always bearing excessive interest, have not been paid off.
Government organizations and NGOs dealing with these issues have in practice ignored the plight of travestis. The reasons range from the intrinsic difficulties of obtaining intelligence about an isolated subculture to the problems in arranging multilateral law enforcement cooperation, which those fighting international organized crime and terrorism routinely face, not to mention a general lack of interest.
Consequently, the criminals enjoy impunity. The sole result of efforts to denounce such practices to local or international authorities are violent reprisals against and further repression of the victims themselves.
Consequently, the criminals enjoy impunity. The sole result of efforts to denounce such practices to local or international authorities are violent reprisals against and further repression of the victims themselves.
* UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).
Travestis and AIDS - The Hidden Reality
Travestis’ clients are generally men who appear as “straight” in society. Many, if not most, are married.
In Brazil, contrary to common belief, in the majority of cases the travesti sex worker performs the active role in sexual intercourse, the male client assuming the passive, receptive role.
AIDS experts believe that a significant hidden route of transmission of AIDS in Brazil - in particular the notable rise in AIDS among women - may be through transgender prostitution: the transvestite passes HIV to the client and the client in turn passes the virus to his wife or partner.
It is common for clients to offer travestis additional payment - double or more the normal rate - to have sex without a condom.
This practice is currently prevalent in several parts of Europe. Reports have been obtained of particular areas where it is known that travestis will perform unprotected sex and where clients refuse a travesti who insists on using a condom.
Travestis’ clients are generally men who appear as “straight” in society. Many, if not most, are married.
In Brazil, contrary to common belief, in the majority of cases the travesti sex worker performs the active role in sexual intercourse, the male client assuming the passive, receptive role.
AIDS experts believe that a significant hidden route of transmission of AIDS in Brazil - in particular the notable rise in AIDS among women - may be through transgender prostitution: the transvestite passes HIV to the client and the client in turn passes the virus to his wife or partner.
It is common for clients to offer travestis additional payment - double or more the normal rate - to have sex without a condom.
This practice is currently prevalent in several parts of Europe. Reports have been obtained of particular areas where it is known that travestis will perform unprotected sex and where clients refuse a travesti who insists on using a condom.
Debt Bondage
Many travestis who are trafficked to Europe, arrive owing substantial sums of money to those who control them and live in conditions of slavery until their “loans” are paid off. The pressure to obtain and turn over clients is considerable.
Many travestis who are trafficked to Europe, arrive owing substantial sums of money to those who control them and live in conditions of slavery until their “loans” are paid off. The pressure to obtain and turn over clients is considerable.
Travestis and AIDS - How Big a Danger?
Travestis in São Paulo - An Uncharted Underworld - No reliable data exists as to the number of travestis and other sex workers in São Paulo or how many are HIV+. Some travestis are born locally. Many come from the central, north, and northeastern regions of Brazil to work the streets and have their bodies transformed in preparation for being trafficked to Europe. Those who survive a European tour can earn enough to be able to afford a house and a car upon their return home and live relatively comfortably. Others have returned from Europe or use the city as a base. The following simulation is based upon parameters.
- Greater São Paulo has over 25 different street prostitution areas.
- Militants consider an initial estimate of 2,000 travestis in the city at any given point of time as not unreasonable.
- Many have relationships with male prostitutes and do not practice safe sex with their boyfriends.
- Doctors believe that up to 80% of travestis become contaminated with HIV.
- Many have drug/alcohol problems.
- Many suffer from depression or other serious psychological issues.
- Almost all have current or potential silicone and other serious health problems.
- Travestis working the street normally have between 2-6 clients per day and an average of at least 20 clients per week.
- As a conservative estimate, 2,000 working travestis have around 40,000 clients per week (including regulars).
- This extrapolates to 2 million clients a year.
- Travestis say that the vast majority (up to 90%) of Brazilian clients are the receptive partner in intercourse.
However conservative the calculation, the number of high risk potential transmissions of HIV to married men - and consequently to their wives - is in the hundreds of thousands per year.*
* Number supported by government STD/AIDS prevention and condom distribution criteria.