Sex workers in Brazil are challenging the Brazilian government’s decision in early June 2013 to first veto and then drastically alter an HIV prevention campaign that had been developed by the Department of STD/AIDS/Ministry of Health in partnership with sex workers earlier this year. After abruptly ordering the rights based materials to be taken offline the government relaunched the campaign with sanitized and adulterated materials several days later. The government removed slogans about rights, citizenship, and positive affirmations of the profession from all campaign materials replacing them with fear based messages such as, “AIDS still has no cure.”
Sex workers in Brazil have released statements critisizing the government’s actions both as separate NGOs and in a powerful joint statement from the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes. Davida’s newspaper, Beijo da Rua, has reported that the sex workers that appeared in the campaign are sending cease and desist letters to the Ministry of Health revoking their releases for using their images and demanding the immediate suspension of the campaign materials in which they appear. The Ministry has now taken the campaign offline, and the fight continues to request that the Minister be forced to resign, and demand that prostitutes’ voices be heard and respected.
International pressure is incredibly important and effective in swaying political decisions. Activists and allies around the world can help support Brazilian sex workers actions:
- by blogging and tweeting about the story using the hash tag #forapadhila, #gohomepadilha and @padilhando. (These all are directed at the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha. Tell him to go home and that you support Brazilian sex workers and their right to dignity, citizenship, happiness and a voice!)
- by reposting and distributing statements from sex workers about the situation
- sharing the materials from the original rights based campaign on FB and website and materials made in protest to the government’s decision
- watching and sharing videos of Gabriela Leite, the founder of the Brazilian Network of Prostitutes, about the current political climate, why she prefers the word whore and the history of the sex worker movement
- blogging about and reposting news stories available at A Kiss for Gabriela, NSWP and Beijo Da Rua.
Equal rights for all professions!
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