Silence of Dawn

For 6 months I photographed Venezuelan women migrants who live in Lima, Peru. I was visually inspired by their stories, their longing and nostalgia as well as how they perceived themselves within the patriarchal and hierarchical society of Lima. I photographed their objects and spaces to convey the emotions they live with daily after being displaced in a hostile country. In Peru, Venezuelan women experience criminalizing xenophobia differently to men. Through stereotypes perpetrated by local media, men are perceived as murderers and thieves while women are stereotyped as desperate for money, potential sex-workers and without many skills. This has casted women into informal, precarious, feminized and racialized work. Over 5 million Venezuelan migrants have been displaced within Latin America. By 2018 in Peru, 58% were women and by 2019 most women entering the country were under the age of 30 (UNHCR*). Many of whom work informal jobs, were paid below minimum wage and encountered barriers for pursuing any form of education. By 2021, over one million Venezuelan migrants had arrived in Peru. It became the second country in the world with the highest population of Venezuelan forced migrants after Colombia. Despite UN suggestions, Peru does not recognize Venezuelan migrants as refugees with a few exceptions for health conditions such as HIV.