DRCLAS Scholars Colloquia: Vanessa Sander, "A Suicide Wave at the LGBT Wing": Prison Lethality and the Limits of Accountability in Brazil

Vanessa Sander is a postdoctoral researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Her broader work addresses issues related to the intersections between gender, sex work, and the prison system. She conducted ethnographic research in prostitution areas and prison units between 2012 and 2025. Her doctoral research, completed at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), resulted in the book The Mermaids’ Wing: An Ethnographic Study on the Criminalization and Incarceration of Travestis and Trans Women, published in 2024. Her work was awarded the Anthropology and Human Rights Prize (2022), granted by the Brazilian Anthropological Association (ABA).