2021 Minas Gerais prostitute strike explained

Place:Minas Gerais, Brazil
2021 Minas Gerais prostitute strike
Side1:Portuguese: Associação das Prostitutas de Minas Gerais (Aprosmig,)
Goals:
  • Categorization of sex workers as a priority group for COVID-19 vaccination
Date:April 2021
Result:
  • Strike fails to pressure Ministry of Health into classifying sex workers as a priority group

The 2021 Minas Gerais prostitute strike was a labor strike involving several thousand prostitutes in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The strike was organized by the Portuguese: Associação das Prostitutas de Minas Gerais (Aprosmig;) and ran for about a week in early April. Occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, the goal of the strike was to pressure the Ministry of Health into categorizing sex workers among other priority groups for immunization against COVID-19. Several protests occurred in the state's capital city of Belo Horizonte. Despite the strike, the Ministry of Health did not add sex workers as a priority group for vaccines.

Background

Throughout 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued in Brazil, with March of that year being one of the worst months for the pandemic. Sex workers were especially hard hit by the effects of the pandemic, with many of them reducing or outright suspending their activities as a result. In the state of Minas Gerais at this time, approximately 80,000 prostitutes were members of the Portuguese: Associação das Prostitutas de Minas Gerais (Aprosmig,), with the capital city of Belo Horizonte home to 3,500 of these members. While financial and health assistance was provided to some degree by both the city of Belo Horizonte and through donations, many prostitutes continued to work due to financial needs, and many have contracted COVID-19 as a result.[1] However, after many hotels in downtown Belo Horizonte were closed as part of a lockdown starting on March 17, approximately 3,000 sex workers lost a place to do business.[2]

Course of the strike

On April 1, it was reported in the Minas Gerais-based newspaper Portuguese: O Tempo that sex workers throughout the state were performing a work stoppage. Cida Vieira, the president of Aprosmig, stated that the goal of the strike was to pressure municipal, state, and federal governments into adding sex workers as a priority group for vaccinations against COVID-19. Vieira stated that, prior to the strike, she had requested that the governments of Minas Gerais and Belo Horizonte add sex workers as a priority group, with both entities claiming that they were subordinate to the vaccination plan laid out by the federal Ministry of Health, which did not include sex workers among its priority groups. According to Vieira, the work stoppage was supported by the Portuguese: Rede Brasileira de Prostitutas (RBP,) and multiple other state-based prostitute organizations. Speaking of the push to be classified as a priority group, Vieira said, "Our work is for daily physical contact and with several people. We are very vulnerable and we had to be included in some risk group. We don't want them to pass us in front of anyone, but to see us with the eyes of humanity".[3] In addition to Aprosmig, the equivalent state organization in the nearby state of Bahia also chose to call for a work stoppage, though an April 3 article in the Bahia-based newspaper Portuguese: [[Correio Braziliense|Correio]] reported that very few prostitutes in the state chose to participate, citing the need to continue to bring in money.[4] Aprosmig stated that the strike would continue until they were guaranteed vaccinations for sex workers, who they argued qualified as frontline workers.[5]

On April 5, several striking sex workers protested along Rua Guaicurus, one of the main thoroughfares in Belo Horizonte.[6] [7] On April 7, a protest in Belo Horizonte almost turned violent after a confrontation between protestors and police.[8] In total, the strike lasted about a week, but in the end, the Ministry of Health did not add sex workers to their list of priority groups.[9]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Almeida . Jessica . 1 April 2021 . Profissionais do sexo mineiras param atividades e pedem prioridade na vacinação . Sex workers from Minas Gerais stop activities and ask for priority in vaccination . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210405210543/https://www.otempo.com.br/cidades/profissionais-do-sexo-mineiras-param-atividades-e-pedem-prioridade-na-vacinacao-1.2466946 . 5 April 2021 . 3 August 2021 . O Tempo . pt-BR.
  2. Web site: Mendes . Higor . 3 April 2021 . Em MG, prostitutas fazem paralisação por inclusão em grupo prioritário da vacina: 'Nossa profissão é de risco' . In MG, prostitutes make stoppage for inclusion in priority group of the vaccine: 'Our profession is at risk' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210803150454/https://www.i7news.ig.com.br/noticia/36443/cidades/em-mg-prostitutas-fazem-paralisacao-por-inclusao-em-grupo-prioritario-da-vacina-nossa-profissao-e-de-risco-03042021 . 3 August 2021 . 3 August 2021 . i7 News . pt-BR.
  3. Web site: 2 April 2021 . Prostitutas de MG pedem prioridade em vacinação . Prostitutes from MG ask for priority in vaccination . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210803150300/https://jornaldebrasilia.com.br/noticias/brasil/prostitutas-de-mg-pedem-prioridade-em-vacinacao/ . 3 August 2021 . 3 August 2021 . Jornal de Brasília . pt-BR.
  4. Web site: Suzart . Moysés . 3 April 2021 . O isolamento das putas: maresia, medo e fome na Orla de Salvador . The isolation of whores: sea, fear and hunger on the Edge of Salvador . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210413020339/https://www.correio24horas.com.br/noticia/nid/o-isolamento-das-putas-maresia-medo-e-fome-na-orla-de-salvador/ . 13 April 2021 . 3 August 2021 . Correio . pt-BR.
  5. News: 7 April 2021 . Brazil prostitutes strike for first-line Covid shots . . . 2 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210407042215/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210407-brazil-prostitutes-strike-for-first-line-covid-shots . 7 April 2021 . live.
  6. Web site: Pimentel . Thais . 5 April 2021 . Prostitutas de BH, em paralisação desde o início de abril, fazem manifestação por vacina . BH prostitutes, in standstill since the beginning of April, organize protest for vaccine . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210422205554/https://g1.globo.com/mg/minas-gerais/noticia/2021/04/05/prostitutas-de-bh-em-paralisacao-desde-o-inicio-de-abril-fazem-manifestacao-por-vacina.ghtml . 22 April 2021 . 2 August 2021 . . . pt-br.
  7. Web site: 5 April 2021 . Covid: em constante risco, profissionais do sexo de BH fazem protesto por vacina . Covid: at constant risk, BH sex workers protest for vaccine . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210406034756/https://www.otempo.com.br/cidades/covid-em-constante-risco-profissionais-do-sexo-de-bh-fazem-protesto-por-vacina-1.2468354 . 6 April 2021 . 3 August 2021 . O Tempo . pt-BR.
  8. Web site: 7 April 2021 . Brazilian prostitutes begin strike, demand COVID-19 vaccination . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210803224931/https://thenigerian.news/brazilian-prostitutes-begin-strike-demand-covid-19-vaccination/ . 3 August 2021 . 3 August 2021 . The Nigerian News . en-US.
  9. Web site: Machado . Nivia . 23 July 2021 . Profissional do sexo faz vídeo e celebra vacinação em Ouro Preto . Sex worker makes video and celebrates vaccination in Ouro Preto . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210725081646/https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/gerais/2021/07/23/interna_gerais,1289506/profissional-do-sexo-faz-video-e-celebra-vacinacao-em-ouro-preto.shtml . 25 July 2021 . 3 August 2021 . Estado de Minas . pt-BR.

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