Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2018 Sandinistas and prostitutas: Reeducation and rehabilitation of prostitutes in revolutionary Nicaragua, 1980-1987 Sydney Marshall Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, and the Latin American History Commons Recommended Citation Marshall, Sydney, "Sandinistas and prostitutas: Reeducation and rehabilitation of prostitutes in revolutionary Nicaragua, 1980-1987" (2018). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 16405. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/16405 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sandinistas and prostitutas: Reeducation and rehabilitation of prostitutes in revolutionary Nicaragua, 1980-1987 by Sydney Marshall A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Major: History Program of Study Committee: Bonar Hernández, Major Professor Amy Rutenberg Maximilian Viatori The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this thesis. The Graduate College will ensure this thesis is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2018 Copyright © Sydney Marshall, 2018. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my grandma Rosa, for her love, support, and inspiration. Thank you for accompanying me on my first trip to Nicaragua, introducing me to long-lost family, and helping me embark on this journey. Te amo mucho abuela. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Methodology and Sources ....................................................................................... 4 Historiography ........................................................................................................ 6 Historical Background .......................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: SANDINISTAS AND THE PROSTITUTA: CREATION OF INSSBI AND INSSBI-CAV PROGRAM ...................................................................................... 15 Origins of the Reform Campaign .......................................................................... 15 A Revolutionary Gender Ideology: Anti-capitalism, Anti-Somoza, and Anti- patriarchy .............................................................................................................. 21 The Limits of the INSSBI-CAV ........................................................................... 26 Lasting Consequences ........................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 30 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 32 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Bonar Hernández, for his patience, guidance, and unending support. In my first semester of graduate school, I was fortunate enough to take a course with Dr. Hernández that changed my life: the history of modern Latin American revolutions. Dr. Hernández, thank you for helping me discover my purpose as an historian and my love for Central American history. I would like to thank my other mentors in the History Department for their unwavering support in my abilities and research. To Dr. Kathleen Hilliard, I cannot imagine surviving graduate school without your wisdom and guidance, especially within my first year as a TA. Dr. Lawrence McDonnell has also proven instrumental in my graduate studies; thank you for countless hours of discussion and pinning down the right questions to ask. Dr. Amy Rutenberg, I want to thank you for both your academic and emotional support throughout this process. Dr. Stacy Cordery, thank you for providing continuous encouragement. And Dr. Simon Cordery, you have been a wonderful presence within the History Department. Thank you to my committee member Dr. Maximilian Viatori from the Anthropology Department for your insight on anthropological theory that has improved this work. For this project, I traveled to the archives at the Universidad Centroamericana (Central American University, UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua. I would like to thank those at the Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamérica (Institute of Nicaraguan and Central American History, IHNCA) for their assistance in gathering documents and pointing me in the direction of other topics. I am especially grateful to María Auxiliadora for her patience with my language capabilities. Also, thank you to my family for graciously taking me in and showing me around the country; thank you Tía Jaqueline, v Jackeline Lucia Mendoza, Jorge Antonio Morales, Andrea Morales, and Jorgito Morales. And thank you to my grandma Rosa Marshall Sego who, at 79 years old, accompanied me on my very first trip to Nicaragua. A special thank you to my graduate cohort, who listened to my stories, helped keep me on track and grounded throughout this project. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by wonderful graduate students, especially Sarah Pillman Amundson, Wansu Luo, Nate Smith, and Kelsey Sissel. Thank you for the laughs, venting sessions, distractions, and coffees. I cannot wait to see what wonderful work you all will publish in the future. I would also like to thank the baristas at Milo’s Café for the working space and the inconceivable amount of vanilla soy lattes. To my family, I owe tremendous gratitude and appreciation. Mom, thank you for always believing in my abilities, our weekly phone calls, and your unswerving support. Dad, I owe you for my work ethic, motivation, and confidence in my abilities. To my sister, Sienna, thank you for being the best little sister I could ever ask for. Your enthusiasm and encouragement has gotten me through the darkest of times. I love you all more than words can describe and even though you were thousands of miles away, you are always there for me. Lastly, I would like to thank my partner in life, Michael Watson. Thank you for moving across the country with me so that I could pursue a career in academia. I could not have done any of this without your love and support. Thank you for the shoulder to cry on and for helping me grow each and every day for the past six years. I look forward to our life together and am so grateful that you will be with me as this project continues. vi ABSTRACT In June 1981, the Sandinista Police conducted a series of arrests of prostitutes throughout Nicaragua. The Sandinistas (or the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) triumphed over the previous dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, assuming control over the country in the summer of 1979. The Sandinistas, a revolutionary group influenced by socialist ideology, led a revolution (1979-1990) that sought to change multiple aspects of Nicaraguan society, including the economic role of women. Why did the Sandinistas focus on eradicating prostitution at a time of internal division and international conflict? In March 1982, the FSLN created the Institute of Social Security and Social Welfare (INSSBI) to establish social programs dedicated to aiding those in economic need. The aim of this program (1982-1987) quickly shifted toward reeducating and rehabilitating prostitutes and other economically marginalized women. By rehabilitating those most adversely affected by capitalism, patriarchy, and the Somoza dictatorship, the Sandinistas sought to create a new society. This study focuses on the role of women in the Nicaraguan revolution by examining the Sandinista’s attempt to integrate prostitutes into a new socialist society. Prostitution offers a way to understand how the Sandinistas tried to alter social and cultural norms in the revolutionary period. This attempt to integrate prostitutes (according to the Sandinistas, the group most economically marginalized by capitalism) into the public allowed the INSSBI project provided financial independence to these women, altering gender-power dynamics in society and giving them the opportunity to have a public voice. The revolutionary government emphasized ideology as a way to correct the faults of the capitalist and patriarchal society under Somoza, which shows the Sandinista vii focus on gender equality in the formation of the new revolutionary state. With an understanding of the revolutionary government’s attitude toward prostitution, we can begin to understand the complex gender relations and power in late 20th century Nicaragua. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION On June 21, 1981, the headline of the Nicaraguan newspaper, La Prensa, read, “Several Women Arrested: