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“Working the Pages”: Entrepreneurship Strategies of Venezuelan Trans Women Refugees Who Enter Sex Work in Brazil During COVID‐19

Author

Listed:
  • Yvonne Su
  • Tyler Valiquette
  • David J. Kinitz
  • Clara de Oliveira Cunha

Abstract

The Venezuelan refugee crisis has displaced nearly 8 million people, with transgender and queer refugees among the most marginalized groups. This paper explores the intersecting precarity and entrepreneurship of Venezuelan trans women refugees who became sex workers in Brazil during COVID‐19. These women confronted homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and exclusion from both formal employment and community support. Drawing on interviews with 18 trans women sex workers, we demonstrate how limited opportunities and structural barriers during the COVID‐19 pandemic compelled many to enter sex work and reveal the innovative strategies, both digital and in person, they developed to navigate risk, survive, and build solidarity. By situating sex work as a form of constrained entrepreneurship shaped by overlapping systems of power and discrimination, our findings offer new insights into the lived realities and adaptive responses of an often‐overlooked population in times of crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Yvonne Su & Tyler Valiquette & David J. Kinitz & Clara de Oliveira Cunha, 2026. "“Working the Pages”: Entrepreneurship Strategies of Venezuelan Trans Women Refugees Who Enter Sex Work in Brazil During COVID‐19," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 1986-1996, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:33:y:2026:i:5:p:1986-1996
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.70177
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