Prostitution is common in prisons. In the questionnaire used during the holistic workshops of 1993, 81% of participants admitted that prostitution exists to some degree.
Source: Johnny Madrigal, Impacto de la prevención del sida en privados de libertad costarricenses, ILPES, San Jose, 1993.
The most open form of prostitution occurs among transvestites. Although love relationships do develop between “cacheros” and “transvestites” and many remain faithful to each other for years, a majority of the latter end up working for “cacheros”. Unlike the great love professed by Toro or the indifference of Chino, many “cacheros” put their transvestite lovers to work. Prostitution is common in all prisons. Transvestite inmates are the ones who most frequently practice prostitution, since they have often done so before entering prison. When we asked a group of transvestites, in 1989, to state the number of sexual partners they had had, the interviewees reported an average of 51 during the previous 12-month period:
The values 0,1,2,4 and 6 sexual partners were each repeated twice.
Source: Jacobo Schifter and Johnny Madrigal, Hombres que aman hombres, ILEP-SIDA, San Jose, 1992. P.186
One of the interviewees, a transvestite, had sex with 365 different partners. Given that there were 1,369 inmates at the time (excluding the 47 inmates in Maximum Security), this figure represents 27% of the prison’s population. Five other transvestites had an average of 193 sexual partners during the same period. Since it is common for transvestites who prostitute themselves to have different clients, it may be deduced that a large number of inmates have sexual relations with them.
During the awareness course given to the transvestites, some interviewees who claimed not to have had any sexual partners in the questionnaire, later admitted that they had indeed had up to five or even eight sexual contacts daily. When they were asked, during the course, about the number of different men they had had as sexual partners since their arrival in prison, eight of the interviewees gave figures which totalled 856 -- in other words, an average of 107, double the number they had indicated in the questionnaire.
The transvestite of the couple becomes the provider, an ironic situation in a relationship in which he plays the role of the “woman”. Some earn money by doing domestic chores for other inmates, such as washing and ironing clothes. Others organize “raffles”, selling numbers in combination with the National Lottery. However, in a pentitentiary system that offers few opportunities, it is difficult to for them to find suitable work. Nearly all of them consider the jobs to which they are assigned in industrial workshops or in the fields to be too arduous. Therefore, to satisfy their own needs and those of their partners, they turn to prostitution. This activity is concealed from their official lovers, for fear of reprisals.
In the prison sex trade, payment varies according to the client’s possibilities. Charges range from small sums of money to doses of different drugs. There is great demand for sexual favors and there is stiff competition among the transvestites themselves, and between these and the “foxes”, who also charge for their services on occasion.
“Cacheros” often complain that “now the ‘foxes’ are everywhere and do anything for a hit of crack,” as Luis says. The need for crack drives many men to prostitute themselves. Ever since crack began circulating in Costa Rican jails during the mid-eighties, prostitution has increased enormously. Many inmates are willing to perform oral or anal sex for just a few hundred colones. One allowed himself to be penetrated “for the 80 pesos (colones) I needed to buy crack”. Some “cacheros” complain that they cannot stay faithful to their partners “because there are so many ‘foxes’ who pursue us to fuck them for money,” says Mario. Pedro says he cannot take a shower in peace, because “as soon as I take my clothes off, there are three or four kids looking for me to fuck them.” Gerardo confirms this: “I think they’ve set up a breeding zoo for “foxes”. I’d never seen so many before. Sometimes I can’t believe that there are so many ‘macho’ men who’ll do anything just to buy crack.”
Competition in prison, as in any capitalist market, drives prices down. Where a prostitute might once have been able to charge 2,000 colones, prices have now dropped to 200 colones. The supply is plentiful, according to prostitutes and clients. “Hell! The situation is terrible now,” a prostitute tells us. “Before we had the luxury of choosing our clients. Now you can’t do that. Any crack-head is willing to give his ass for a joint.” This is Juan Alberto’s view of the situation:
Yeah, the “cacheros” spread the money around...maybe they take a shine to more than one kid who’s into sodomy. They have sex with one and then with another. Most of the people here are 40 or 50 years old and as they’re on their own and don’t get conjugal visists or anything, then they pay several kids. There are about three kids here who are into having affairs with different men, you see. Maybe to earn three or four hundred colones, I don’t know what for, most of these kids go with the “cacheros”, the men with the money, who pay them. They whore at night or during the day, but they’re not together. When they need money, they go to a “cachero” so that he’ll make love to them and pay them.There’s a kid here who goes with several at the same time, so that they’ll fuck him and have sex with him for money, mainly because of his crack addiction.”
Ana Rosa is a transvestite who prostitutes himself. When he lived in San Jose’s red light district, he dealt drugs and was involved in prostitution. In jail, he has continued with both occupations. The inmates assume that Ana Rosa will automatically be available to anyone who pays. Zorro talks about his relationship with ‘her’:
When I saw that queen, Ana Rosa, walk into the block, I just drooled. She looked so feminine and pretty that it was almost impossible to believe she was a man. She changed pants in her cell and I saw that pert, firm little ass of hers. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one looking at her. Several guys in my block were saying to her, “Hey, honey, little turkey butt”, and she pretended not to pay attention. I called one of them over, and made a real face at him and told him: ‘You better lay off that queen and leave her to me until I get bored with her.’ The guy didn’t like what I said, but he left and told the others. I walked over to that queen and told her, “Hey, honey, you’d better sleep with me at night, ‘cause if you don’t, they might do something bad to you tonight. Sleep in my bed and I’ll take care of that little treasure you have there.’ She smiled at me and I saw that she liked me. I know that gays like me because they say I’m good-looking and well endowed. But then she said she needed money and that she charges a ‘toucan’ (five thousand colones) for her ‘little treasure.’ “Don’t be so dumb”, I told her, “if you don’t sleep with me tonight, that gang that was flirting with you is gonna give you such a surprise that you tomorrow won’t be able to walk.” She wasn’t dumb and she came to sleep with me that night. I told her: “You’re gonna eat all of this and for free, you hear that honey? And I’m only gonna pay you with milk (semen).” For three nights I had her all to myself in my den. Ana Rosa howled like a bitch, probably to get everyone all stirred up. Then I let her charge other people, so long as she paid me a ‘toucan’ for protection.
Ana Rosa admits that even when ‘she’ falls in love and wants to be faithful to one man, her cell mates will not let her:
I began to like this blond kid who’s in my block. He’s very ‘macho’ but young. He has a face like an angel and a very beautiful smile. He began to flirt with me and we would talk together in the afternoons when the others were playing football. Once he kissed me passionately and touched my breasts. I take hormones so I have big ones. He took off my blouse and began to suck them, but very delicately. Then he led me to the bathroom and took off all my clothes and began to rub soap all over me. He took off his clothes too and he had a beautiful body. He was totally excited and began to make love to me. It was really wonderful, extremely passionate and when he possessed me, he said, “This belongs only to me, you understand? I don’t want anybody else coming in here.” But he was only twenty years old and real green. For a few days I was his. We would make love like crazy in his bed. I was so in love that I didn’t want to take any clients so that I wouldn’t make him suffer. But they didn’t let me. One night, Zorro and two of his friends dragged us out of bed. They grabbed him and beat the shit out of him. Then they dragged me by the hair to the bathroom and brutally raped me. The kid was moved to another block and I had to stay with all these sons of bitches. After that, I preferred to keep charging and paying Zorro to protect me. In here you have no choice.
Other transvestites resort to tricks to avoid splitting their profits with others.
Permanent Halloween (so-called because “she” is frighteningly ugly) told us how she managed to set up her own business:
I’ve always whored in the red light district. There I learnt to use a knife on any son-of-abitch who tries to screw with me. Once, I charged a “cachero” called “Ingeniero” a thousand colones for a fuck. After we finished he didn’t want to pay up, and he said, “Honey, you’re too flaccid, you ain’t worth it.” The idiot didn’t want to pay me. “Look here, you mangey scab, before you were telling me how delicious I was and now you say you’re not paying me.” So, I grabbed a knife and split his face open. He tried to kill me, but he couldn’t. I’m stronger than an ox. They took him to the infirmary and put about ten stitches in him. I was sent to a punishment cell and then to Medium Security. But when I got there I said: ‘Anyone who wants to fuck me shows me the money first, or else.’ I’m not going to work for any son-of-a-bitch who doesn’t give his ass honestly like I do.
As far as prostitutes are concerned, it comes as no surprise that the guards or prison officers also require their services:
Colonel W. likes transvestites. Sometimes he invites Casandra and me to the office, supposedly to sort out a matter in our files. He pays us 500 colones to suck him off together.
Despite the fact that inmates prefer sex as a business, they are also victims of a great compulsion which leads them to regard sexual relations as a means of satisfying other psychological needs, something that aggravates their situation. This fact is borne out by various responses given on sexual issues.12 Many inmates (45%) agree that sex is the only way to relax in moments of tension, and 36% believe that when they feel insecure, the best thing to do is to find a new sexual partner. Another 41% think about sex continuously.
PROSTITUTION AMONG “FOXES”
Some men have sex only for money. They do not feel any attraction towards other men, as in the two cases mentioned above. Juan Alberto is an example of a “fox” who charges, even though he does so furtively. He admits that since he took up prostitution, “I don’t have a need for things because I can easily afford them.” Horacio is married and has conjugal visits with his wife. He is also extremely masculine and is never seen with homosexuals or transvestites. However, his addiction to crack is enormous. When his friends in the block are asleep, says Jose, Horacio hires himself out for money:
I really couldn’t believe it. That guy is very masculine and a great football player. But since he’s been into crack, his personality’s changed. One night I needed to pee, so I went to the bathroom about two thirty in the morning and found him with another guy -- I prefer not to give his name. Horacio was nailed down like a common whore. I pretended not to see anything and went back to bed. After a few minutes, he came to warn me not to say anything, because he just needed the money. Well, I’ve seen him going to the bathroom several times. Here everyone pretends that nothing is happening.
Another “fox” who sells his favors is Carrasco, a gay man. His business is to offer oral sex for 300 colones. Carrasco has a number of clients whom he visits in the afternoon and at night. He says he sometimes earns as much as 4,000 colones a day:
I’ve always enjoyed giving head. All my life I’ve enjoyed taking young kids and giving them a good session of oral sex. But in jail, I do it for money, to buy marihuana and better food. I go to different clients and sometimes I drink the milk (semen) of about twenty or thirty guys a day. That’s why they call me Pinito ( a brand of milk). It doesn’t bother me to be called that. What I can’t stand is those whores of transvestites who make fun of me and say I’m dirty and call me names like “Chupacabras”(Goat-sucker) to humilliate me.
Inmates are not the only “foxes”. In one jail there is a toilet which is used by visitors, prison officers and inmates. Roberto describes what he saw one day:
I had terrible diarrhea that day, so I went into the toilet which is just outside the blocks. I was about to go in when I saw an officer coming out with Xavier, the “cachero’ who goes with “La Niña”. The cop was a young kid, good-looking. When they saw me they acted kind of strange. I noticed that Pedro, another friend of Xavier, was acting like a look-out. It seemed very strange, but I didn’t think anything of it. A few days later, I heard them calling Xavier to go to the office for something. I happened to notice that instead of going to the office, he went to the bathroom again. Once again, Pedro went with him. The cop went in and they were in there for about twenty minutes. I told my friend Ernesto about what I’d seen and he said that Xavier was doing it with the kid. ‘With the cop?’ I asked. ‘Yeah’, he said, ‘Xavier likes sodomy and he pays the policeman to give it to him. Don’t you see, the guy has money from drugs and the cop’s into crack too.
There are some “foxes” in high places, as Vernon recounts:
I like queens, I don’t deny it. But real queens. The more they look like women, the better I like them. I’m not turned on by the “fox” types. I’d heard that this guy liked inmates to fuck him. I also knew that he’d asked about me a few times. I’m blond and that guy would always be looking at me kind of strange. But he was a real son-of-a-bitch and he’d already refused me a 55. (Author’s note: a type of parole). When he called me in, I don’t know what for, I felt him looking at me very strangely. After a few minutes of talking bullshit about my case, he asked me if I’d like to have a drink in his office. I said yes, but not today because I was very tired after working in the fields. I said that I’d accept a drink, but for two reds (2,000 colones). He said sure, and asked when I’d like to come. I said next week. Well, that shitface never imagined that he couldn’t treat me like a whore. I decided to report him to a female prison officer. She said she’d talk to someone else and told me to go ahead with the meeting so they could catch him red-handed. Well, the following week I went along and he gave me a drink and invited me to dance. Then he asked if he could kiss me. I told him I was scared because someone might see us, but he said no, that the guards were patrolling and that there was nobody except us two and a guard who didn’t know what was happening. I had trouble getting an erection, but I made it and I began to fuck him when Doña Tulia walked in and caught us in the act. That son-of-a-bitch still doesn’t know that I set him up.
RAPE
The issue of rape, known as “attacks”, is confidential in prison. This means that inmates are exposed to great danger if they admit the existence of rape to strangers. In our case, we were able to discuss this issue only after years of working with the inmates. In the course of our first enquiries, the common response was that rapes did not occur. However, with the passing of the years, we gradually obtained different information from the inmates. Of the inmates who participated in the holistic workshops in 1993, 65% admitted that rapes occur. Since questionnaires are distributed at the beginning and at the end of the eight-week workshop, more inmates are willing to admit that rape exists when they get to know us better (42% deny the existence of rape at the beginning of the workshop and only 33% do so at the end).
Source: Jacobo Schifter and Johnny Madrigal, Hombres que aman hombres, ILEP-SIDA, San Jose, Costa Rica, 1992.
The interviewees describe the problem of rape, which may occur when a person first enters prison or later, and may involve the participation of several inmates. The victim is usually threatened with a knife and rendered defenceless by his attackers. In these brutal attacks, condoms are obviously not used, which makes these incidents a very dangerous source of possible AIDS infection. Because the jails are so overcrowded, cell blocks have become areas of great danger, to the point where the prison officers do not dare to enter every day. They do so only during periodic searches, when the number of guards is increased.
The dormitories and toilets are a “no-man’s land”, dominated by gangs headed by the most dangerous prisoners. These gangs set the rules and run life in the jail, including the sex trade. They are also the ones who order rapes.
The motives for these “attacks” are varied. Sometimes they occur during a transvestite’s first days in prison, before he has found the protection of a “godfather” who is respected by other inmates. His rape, then, has two meanings: it gives the “cacheros’”power to exploit the transvestite and to decide who can and who cannot pass for a “fox”. An example of this was the rape of Lulu, a 23 year-old transvestite who was jailed for dealing marihuana. He had worked as a waiter in Alajuela and very occasionally prostituted himself. He was a slender and effeminate transvestite. When he arrived in prison, instead of seeking the protection of a “cachero”, he teamed up with a young man with whom he established a relationship. This man was masculine but very young -- only 22. Lulu had sex with him and they decided to become a couple. This was not acceptable to the “cacheros” on the block. “That little queen ain’t going to tell us who’s a “cachero” around here,” explained Pepe, one of the block’s “cacheros” and “coles”. To “teach” him “who is who” in this block, Pepe summoned four of his cronies and one night:
I was sleeping with my lover when I felt a knife at my neck. They told Gerardo, my partner, to keep still and that he’d better not see or hear anything. I begged Pepe not to do anything to me and to leave Gerardo alone. But it didn’t work. Loro, another “cachero”, put his hand over my mouth and between the four of them, they dragged me to the bathroom. I screamed whenever I could, but nobody paid any attention. As he pushed me into the bathroom, Pepe punched me in the mouth and made me bleed. I begged him to leave me alone, not to rape me because I’d do whatever they wanted. But it was too late. They ripped my pants and stripped me. They pulled their pants off and grabbed my legs and forced them apart. Pepe decided to abuse me first, without any lubricant, or saliva or anything. The pain was terrible. I couldn’t feel anything except the pain and my blood flowing. Then the other three followed. It all lasted maybe twenty minutes, but for me it was an eternity. When they finished they slashed one of my buttocks with the knife and warned me: ‘if you talk, you big whore, we’ll kill you tomorrow. Every time you take a shit, you’ll remember this’. I went back to my bed and a queen, Zancuda, bandaged my wound and gave me a tranquillizer to calm me down. I was crying hysterically.
Edwin was also raped soon after he arrived in prison. He was just 18, the golden age of the “güilas”. He is fair-skinned with pleasant features, brown hair and a well-proportioned body. Edwin is a very masculine juvenile offender. His specialty was breaking into cars until he was arrested in a police raid. When he entered prison, he did not have the slightest interest in homosexuality and he rejected Julio, a 43 year-old “cachero” who made advances to him:
I told him I didn’t want any sodomy, that I wasn’t into it. He said okay, that we could be friends and he stopped bothering me. Little by little, he began to give me sleeping pills, to make my time in prison go faster. One Saturday, around five in the afternoon, I was very drowsy on pills and he came to my bed and took out a knife and said: ‘okay, now take your pants down and don’t make any noise because I’ll kill you right now’. I tried to get away, but the son-of-a-bitch had me by the waist and was pulling me back. No matter how hard as I tried to cut loose, that bastard was too strong for me. When he was inside me, he said, ‘you ain’t no little gentleman anymore, you’re being conquered and now everyone knows it. Nobody respects a “güila” who’s been possessed. Tomorrow you’ll be pursued by another, and the day after tomorrow by yet another. You either submit to me, or you’ll see what they’ll do to you.’ I felt a terrible humilliation. Then I noticed that two friends of his had come to see what was going on and they were laughing at me.
It often happens that a transvestite rejects the sexual advances of a particular inmate, which leads to his being raped by the person rejected and others who conspire with him. When a transvestite who has joined a particular gang, and gained its protection in exchange for sex or money, decides to join another gang, retribution is also swift: gang rape is the price of desertion. A transvestite who displays very refined, “high class” manners is also a candidate for rape, to teach him that this kind of behavior is not acceptable in jail. Infidelity between couples is also punished in the same way. The wronged lover joins with the rest of the gang in attacking the traitor.
Rape is also used as a form of revenge against non-tranvestite inmates. When a “fox” charges for his services without giving the “cacheros” a cut of his earnings and competes with the transvestites, the “owners” of the latter conspire either to turn the “fox” into a transvestite or force him out of the business.
Like I told you, I’m not a transvestite and never was. I liked to give oral sex for money to some guys, something exclusive, not with anyone. But I didn’t like to go with “cacheros” or shave myself or go around like a whore or wash anyone’s clothes. Well, one night Mono’s gang grabbed me and raped me. There were five guys. They said: ‘Hey, shit-fox, if you keep on sucking and charging for it, we’re gonna cut off your dick and dress you up like a queen.’
The “attacks” occur at night in the cells and the toilets. Victims who resist get hurt. Afterwards, the victim never reveals the names of his aggressors, because the price for doing so is death. Recovery from the trauma suffered takes place without any member of the prison’s health or security staff being aware of the incident.
When one man -- or several -- rape another, does this constitute a sexual relationship or is it yet another form of violence? The answer, according to Tejon, is not simple. He admits having participated in more than one of these incidents. The reasons for the attacks have already been examined. However, we asked him how he managed to get an erection given that, to commit rape, there must be desire. “Of course,” he answered, “you get excited when you have control over a person.” According to Tejon, all sexual relationships are based on power and it is this which excites men:
If you want to know how you can get an erection, even when you don’t like men, I’ll tell you a story. As you can see, I’m a guy. Women like me. I don’t need to force any woman to possess her. But I’m a macho, I like difficult things. Men are born hunters. We like to possess, the way any beast attacks another. All that stuff about men and women making love is for idiots. What we want to do is dominate, penetrate a woman so that she knows who’s boss. I’m here because I raped a fifteen year-old girl. But it wasn’t fair because that little bitch wanted a dick. Well, she was my cousin and came to live with us because her family moved to the United States. One afternoon I found her naked with her boyfriend in her room. He wanted to have her but she said no, she wanted to be a virgin when she gets married. Although the guy kept insisting, she persuaded him that they should just masturbate each other. My cousin was a real little fox and she was protecting her little pussy like it was gold! Well, the following week I waited ‘til she was alone in her room and I suddenly walked in. I kissed her on the mouth. I knew she liked me because I noticed that she didn’t resist. I’d noticed her flirting with me before. I took her clothes off gently and then her bra. She came out with the same line about not wanting to be penetrated, that we should just play around and nothing more. I said yeah, sure, that I respected her like a young lady. But, when she least expected it, I told her the truth: “you’re gonna be mine!”. She began to try to get out of the bed, but I grabbed her hard. I began slapping her face to scare her. When I saw her crying and begging me not to rape her, I got even more turned on. The sweat, the tears, the begging and the screams are all part of the excitement. I would touch her with the tip (of the penis) and hold still. The more I did it, the more she believed that I wouldn’t possess her, that I was sorry. But no. After half an hour of playing around I broke through and made her mine. I’m telling you this because you feel the same thing with a guy. When Castillo was raped, I felt the same. The guy deserved punishment. When he saw that we were going to get him, he begged us not to rape him, he said he wouldn’t steal our drug money again. The idiot was sweating and crying and begging for mercy. No mercy and no shit! We took off his clothes and waited a few minutes to let him beg and plead with us not to do anything. When he thought we’d forgiven him, Gavilan took off his clothes and told us to lay him on his back and spread his legs open. When Gavilan got on top, the screams of pain made us all crazy. Castillo was raped without mercy.
Tejon does not believe that sexuality inside jail is any different from sexuality outside. He believes that all men, deep down, are potential rapists. “That line that says men are made to be faithful is a priest’s tale. They’re the ones who know the least about sex,” he tells us. Tejon believes that males are predators by nature.
Men are born hunters. We like challenges. There’s nothing more boring than having sex with your wife, the one you can have every day. After a few months, you’re fucking her but thinking about other women. Soon, you need to have an affair. There’s nothing more delicious for a man than to dominate a woman who resists. You want a fight, a struggle. Can’t you see that the penis is a knife? Few women want us to put the whole of this cock inside them. You have to persuade them, trick them, promise them everything, so they’ll let you. Well, that’s what males like and it doesn’t matter if you stick your dick into a broad or a guy.
Although it seems extreme, Tejon is not completely wrong. We do not yet know how important power is as a source of sexual attraction. Sometimes we believe that what attracts us about a person is their body. However, I do not believe that the sexual organs are attractive in themselves. They become interesting when we imbue them with power and resistance. They are desirable for what they signify and not for the way they look. When the bodies of men and women are imbued with meanings of power and resistance, there are possibilities for altering the typical relationship. In this way, the bodies of men may be redefined as feminine and those of women as masculine.
Though cruel and extreme, prison rapes follow certain precepts and do not occur every day. As we have seen, they contain a combination of erotic and political aspects. Prisoners who have participated in rapes regard them as a ritual similar to the possession of any victim, whether male or female.
One of the objectives is to prevent other discourses and inmates from challenging the rules of the “cacheros”. If a prisoner rebels against the accepted system of homosexuality, in which “cacheros” dominate and exploit others, he will be attacked. Thus, the transvestites or “güilas” who do not accept their condition or do not wish to seek the protection of one man, will be raped “so that they find a godfather”, as Juan Carlos says. Another objective of rape is to prevent other models of homosexuality from establishing themselves as legitimate. For this reason, attacks are sometimes perpetrated against “modern” gay couples or against a “fox” who crosses the accepted boundaries and becomes too obvious. The message is that these relationships are not respected and must remain clandestine. An additional objective of the rapes is to sexually initiate heterosexual prisoners and decide who fits into each category. A young man cannot aspire to be a “cachero” and if he attempts to be one, he will be raped. The same will happen to a very effeminate man who tries to break free from a partnership or from prostitution.
Other non-sexual functions of rape are to punish inmates who are informants, those who talk too much, who steal from the “coles”, who do not pay their debts, who flirt with other men’s wives or girlfriends, who do not obey orders and all who rebel against the power of the “coles” and the “cacheros”.
One additional function of rape is as a “punishment of the people”. It is understood that certain crimes are unacceptable to prison society and deserve the worst punishment. One of these is child rape. Inmates who have raped children are themselves likely to be the victims of such attacks. “We might be criminals but we have certain principles,” says Pico de Lora. “One of these principles is that chi