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Latin American female migrants’ negotiation of sex work, international borders and internal barriers in Istanbul

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  • Gianmaria Lenti
  • Bernardo López Marín

Abstract

Based on participant observation, numerous informal conversations and ten semi-structured interviews, this paper explores the complexities of Latin American female migrants’ mobility towards Europe via Turkey. By analyzing ethnographic data accounting for their life stories, interactions with ‘traffickers’, experiences in Istanbul, and the difficulties to reach their destinations, it deconstructs dominant perspectives about human trafficking and sex work. Their narratives dislocate mainstream discourses that homogenize international migration under institutional categories, predetermined experiences and subjectivized ontologies. Upon arrival, unforeseen circumstances truncated previous plans, encapsulating them within Turkish borders where finding means to survive and continue moving turned challenging. Meanwhile, they must deal with internal barriers, including gender relations, gender-based violence and sociocultural, linguistic, economic, political and legislative hindrances that exacerbate precarity and risks. These journeys can become entangled with sex work, either induced or independently exercised with the intention of opposing immobilizing border regimes. Despite exposure to violence and abuse, these women continuously negotiate their own subjectivities, while dealing with unfamiliar and hostile settings, demonstrating tenacious expressions of subjective and collective agency that assist them in surviving and pursuing their life projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianmaria Lenti & Bernardo López Marín, 2025. "Latin American female migrants’ negotiation of sex work, international borders and internal barriers in Istanbul," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 43(3), pages 451-467, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:43:y:2025:i:3:p:451-467
    DOI: 10.1177/23996544241260592
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicola Mai, 2016. "‘Too Much Suffering’: Understanding the Interplay between Migration, Bounded Exploitation and Trafficking through Nigerian Sex Workers’ Experiences," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(4), pages 159-172, November.
    2. Oguzhan Omer Demir, 2010. "Methods of sex trafficking: findings of a case study in Turkey," Global Crime, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 314-335, August.
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