Keiry Molina’s world turned upside down last May when a police officer arrived at her home in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. The 46-year-old trans woman was arrested and taken to a police station, where she discovered that four anonymous tipsters had accused her of extortion and involvement with the country’s notorious criminal gangs. Molina is a hairdresser, who is well known in the community as an animal rights activist who spent her free time rescuing stray dogs. Her family lives in a poor neighbourhood in Soyapango on the outskirts of the capital, has no ties to any gangs and was shocked by the allegations of extortion, says Molina’s niece Sofía.