Sex Work – Global Feminisms Project

Sex Work

Lourdes Barreto :

Lourdes Barreto

Lourdes Barreto, born in Catolé do Rocha in Paraíba, has been living in Belém for more than 60 years. She was the founder, with Gabriela Leite, of the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes (RBP), whose milestone was the First National Meeting, "Fala, Mulher da Vida" (“Speak, Ladies of the Night”), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1987. She was one of the founders of the Movement for the Promotion of Women - MOPROM and in 1990 created the Group of Women Prostitutes of the State of Pará - GEMPAC. Due to her recognized knowledge of and participation in the struggle to promote women's rights, she was selected to serve as a representative in the National Council of Women's Rights (CNDM) of the Brazilian Federal Ministry of Justice from 2018-2021. She is a member of the Latin American Platform of Sex Workers (PLAPERTS) and the World Network of Sex Workers (NSWP). Now 79 years old, she has been involved in prostitution for more than 50 years and served as a leader of the RBP for 35 years. She is one of 100 people who initiated anti-AIDS programs in Brazil and contributed to the construction of the Unified Health System (SUS). "I am a whore," tattooed on her left arm, expresses her history of struggle. In September 2022 she launched Lourdes Barreto: Puta Autobiography (Editora Paka-Tatu) at the Bienal das Artes (Biennial of the Arts) in Belém do Pará.

Keywords: community activism, sex work

Media: Transcript (Portuguese, English), YouTube Video (Portuguese, English Subtitles), Name Pronunciation Audio

Jarjum Ete :

Jarjum Ete

Jarjum Ete, born in 1963, belongs to the Galo tribe and is the Chairperson of the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission on Women which discusses women's participation in panchayats, customary laws, need for a state women's commission and anti-liquor laws. She has very strong views on legalisation of prostitution.
Keywords: gender and health, community activism, gender-based violence, sex work, intersectionality, politics and the law
Media: Transcript (English), VideoBibliographyYouTube VideoName Pronunciation Audio

Lourdes Huanca Atencio :

Lourdes Huanca Atencio

Lourdes Huanca Atencio, born in 1968, is founder and president of the National Federation of Female Peasants, Artisans, Indigenous, Native and Salaried Workers of Peru (FENMUCARINAP). The organization was founded in 2006 with the purpose of defending and fighting for the rights of women in Perú. Rooted in an ancestral cosmovisión (or worldview) of their indigenous communities, a central struggle has been the fight for their subsistence, in maintaining land, water and seed sovereignty. The main goals include: (1) control and defense of the territory of the female body, which is often violated; (2) the political, economic, social and cultural empowerment of women who sustain society, yet whose work and contributions are not recognized; (3) defending the sovereignty of indigenous women’s subsistence, which is land, water and seeds, because a campesina (or rural woman) without those things has no choice but to move to city where she then becomes extremely impoverished.  Lourdes is one of five women promoters of human rights who were recognized by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in Perú during a ceremony held in the framework of the commemoration of International Women's Day in March 2020. She has also participated in numerous UN initiatives (e.g., as a regular participant in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and is also a member of the Fund for the Development of Indigenous People of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC).

Keywords: community activism, rural women and land reform

Media: Transcript (Spanish, English), Video, YouTube Video (Spanish, English Subtitles) Name Pronunciation Audio

Interviewee Photo Credit

By theverb.org. https://www.flickr.com/photos/71015487@N03/7382740578/in/photolist-cfotyE. Creative Commons. Accessed 2 February, 2021.

 

Katherine Soto Torres :

Katherine Soto Torres

Katherine Soto Torres, born in 1993, studied Sociology at the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal and is currently completing a Master's in Public Policy at the Universidad Católica-Peru. She is the daughter of migrants and the first in her family to have access to a college education. Kate is a young activist, recognized by the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations for her work with Carabayllo youth through her club of girls SULANS (Siempre Unidas Lograremos Alcanzar Nuestros Sueños; United Always We Will Reach our Dreams), which works to create safe and empowering spaces for young girls. Among other awards, Katherine received the “Order of Merit for Women” from Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra in 2018, in recognition of her social work in the promotion of women's rights and the fight for gender equality. Kate founded Mujeres Desaparecidos Perú (Missing Women-Peru), an organization that reports cases of missing women and girls and was born out of the disappearance of her friend Solsiret Rodríguez, who is still unaccounted for. Kate is also the coordinator of the CHIRAPAQ, a Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú project that promotes the affirmation of identity and the recognition of indigenous rights in the exercise of citizenship, with a special commitment to indigenous children, youth and women.

Keywords: activism during the COVID-19 pandemic, community activism, sex work

Media: Transcript (Spanish, English), Video, YouTube Video (Spanish, English Subtitles), Name Pronunciation Audio

Interviewee Photo Credit

By SouhiroZ. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katherine_Johana_Soto_Torres.jpg. Creative Commons. Accessed 2 February, 2021.

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