Have you ever wondered what happens to sex workers when they grow old? To most of us they are invisible. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter for elderly sex workers in Mexico City. For the past six years, I have been intimately documenting the lives of these women in the shelter, I also document the end of life for some. I intent to capture their dignity, and highlight the value and stories they have to give back to a society that has rejected them. Celia Gómez Ramos, an established mexican writer, joins the project two year ago and since then, she gathered their stories and testimonies. Together, we did a book “Las amorosas más bravas†(“Tough Loveâ€). The book give a voice to these remarkable women and show that even the much-ostracized members of our society have a lot to teach us and share with us if we give them the chance. I hope my photographs will help the public to think differently about women’s rights, discrimination, and stereotypes of sex workers. I also hope that Casa Xochiquetzal will inspire other groups and governments around the World to found similar shelters. Currently, Casa Xochiquetzal is the only such shelter existing in Latin America and maybe in the World.
