Sex workers in Brazil are demanding they be included in the government’s plan to help the country’s 38m informal workers during the Covid-19 crisis, writes Sam Sowie in São Paulo.
Earlier this week, following public pressure, Brazil’s economy ministry proposed a BR$200 (£33) monthly stipend to assist informal workers like Uber drivers and street venders.
Cida Viera, director-general Association of Prostitutes of Minas Gerais, a sex workers union has demanded that Brazil’s estimated 1.5m sex workers must be able to access the benefit too.
“If they are going to help truck drivers, they have to help prostitutes too,” she said.
“We’re talking about a vulnerable group, which needs more attention,” she said. “How will they survive if they stop working?”
Viera also demands that the government draw up a prevention and assistance program for sex professionals to avoid Covid-19 contamination during the crisis.
In the meantime, her union has made several recommendations to its members such as wearing gloves, avoiding lip to lip contact and breathing too closely to the client.
In Brazil, sex work is a legal and officially recognised profession but it’s not regulated by law.