A Place at the Table: Sex Workers and Allies in the Redefinition of Brazil’s Anti-Trafficking Law

Abstract

The present article is a brief account of the representational politics surrounding the insertion of the Brazilian prostitutes’ movement into anti-trafficking policy-making, following the 2013 death of Gabriela Leite, one of the founders and principal leaders of the movement. Leite’s death left an organizational hole in the attempts by one of Brazil’s oldest sex worker NGOs, Davida, to secure a place for sex workers at the policy-making table in the rewriting of the country´s anti-trafficking laws. Here, we relate how sex workers, academics, journalists, and activists came together to attempt to patch that hole, successfully fighting for sex worker representation in the governmental organs overseeing the struggle against human trafficking in Rio and, more broadly, Brazil. The re-organization of this project following the death of Gabriela highlights how multifaceted alliances between differently positioned actors can leverage the visibility and power of sex workers in culture and politics, creating opportunities to implement policies that favor prostitute rights.