Sex Work

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

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