* MEXICO: Las amorosas mas bravas (28 images)

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  • Portrait of Jimena, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter like no other in the world, a place where women find a home in old age after having lived on the streets as former--or current--sex workers.

  • Portrait of Victoria, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter like no other in the world, a place where women find a home in old age after having lived on the streets as former--or current--sex workers.

  • Portrait of Reynita, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter like no other in the world, a place where women find a home in old age after having lived on the streets as former--or current--sex workers.

  • Portrait of Guadalupe, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter like no other in the world, a place where women find a home in old age after having lived on the streets as former--or current--sex workers.

  • Portrait of a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter like no other in the world, a place where women find a home in old age after having lived on the streets as former--or current--sex workers.


  • Portrait of Victoria, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Casa Xochiquetzal is a shelter like no other in the world, a place where women find a home in old age after having lived on the streets as former--or current--sex workers.


  • Canela, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, lies in her bed at the house. Canela is well known and respected in the neighborhoods that surround the shelter. Originally from Oaxaca, she came to Mexico City to work at a very early age. At 65, she suffers from Down's syndrome and a number of other illnesses. She never had children.

  • JImena, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, in her room.

  • Margarita, a resident of Casa Xochiquetzal, in her room.

  • Conchita and Victoria during lunch time at Casa Xochiquetzal. The shelter give older sex workers a community, food and shelter, health services, a space to learn about their human rights and courses to help them rediscover their self-confidence and deal with traumatic aspects of their lives. The shelter gives the women a dignified way out of their profession.

  • Carmelita, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, enjoys smoking her daily cigaret.

  • Residents at Casa Xochiquetzal during lunch time. The shelter give older sex workers a community, food and shelter, health services, a space to learn about their human rights and courses to help them rediscover their self-confidence and deal with traumatic aspects of their lives. The shelter gives the women a dignified way out of their profession.

  • Marisol, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, reads a book of Vladimir Nabokov in her room. Marisol nearly finished her studies to be a teacher. She has Middle Eastern features but in fact is from Michoacán. She left home at nine, after a year in which her father "used her." When she got to the Mexico City bus station, she met a woman who offered her a home and education. Marisol lost her at seventeen, when she died. She makes earrings and bracelets, embroiders, does a lot of reading and writes poetry.

  • Normota and Canela, both residents at Casa Xochiquetzal, know each other since 30 years. Living under a single roof hasn't been easy. Although many of the women knew one another for years on the streets, they competed for clients. Yet little by little, coexistence has come to pass in the shelter.

  • Paola, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, makes up before going to work. Most women who live at Casa Xochiquetzal have relatives, though in a number of cases, contact is sporadic or non-existent.

  • The personal belongings of Paola, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. Paola left the shelter 2 years ago and she never came back since then. Nobody knows where she is, neither what's happen to her.

  • Jimena, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, walks in her room.

  • The personal belongings and the Bible of Laeticia, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. The belongings of the women are few, but their memories are rich in detail.

  • Raquel, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, makes up before going to work. Raquel, 66, is from Michoacán, and came to Casa Xochiquetzal when it first opened its doors in 2006. She wears a wig and pads her bra. She is animated--words and songs come easily to her. She collects things. She has suffered from schizophrenia for 22 years and hears voices, but works hard not to lose touch with reality. She helps out selling clothes in a stand that her boyfriend of 31 years operates and also gathers plastic bottles for recycling as a way of earning a little money.

  • Jimena, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal. The Mexico City house, with its open doors and easy-to-follow rules, offers shelter, food and comprehensive care at the same time it encourages community participation on the part of its residents. It is a shot at peace and dignity in old age, designed for a socially invisible segment.

  • Canela, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, takes a visiting dog on a walk.

  • Residents at the Casa Xochiquetzal attend a weekly at the house.

  • Lourdes, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, after applying make-up in her room.

  • An elderly sex worker attends the wake of another sex worker who died of cancer at 54 years old.

  • Sonia, a resident at Casa Xochiquetzal, prays at the church. Sonia is from Sonora and is 62. At age 14, she received a bullet wound in her head after being raped. Since then she hasn't been able to move her left arm or leg much. But she turned to sex work anyway.

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