JAIL EXPERIENCES FROM FEMALE TRANSSEXUAL AND ‘TRAVESTIS’ IN SANTIAGO DE CHILE

Abstract

This article aims to understand the constitutive elements of a prison experience to transsexual women and transvestites in Santiago de Chile. To this end, five interviews were conducted with people who were confined in male prisons. It can be argued that the female bodies that experienced the male prison developed specific experiences that involve strategies of survival and subjugation. Within the results were found the following central elements: firstly, the constitution of the female transsexual body and transvestites in relation to a precarious life trajectory. The second element is the constitution of prison experiences based on the stories of the interviewees. In this way, the article responds to the central questioning of how the prison experiences of transsexual women and transvestites are composed in the male prison space of Santiago de Chile.