This is a profession that has rights. There are some women who are depoliticised, and so they feel those preconceptions and that stigma. But the second you have a political understanding of human rights, your perspective changes. There are laws against discrimination in Brazil, and so if someone discriminates against me, I can legally respond.The church is a different story. They view us as poor little girls. But we’re no longer poor little girls. In Brazil, legislation was passed, with the participation of the prostitution movement, to include sex workers in the Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Registry in 2002 . Because of that, we have become people who are more dedicated to our rights and political empowerment. Prior to 2002, that didn’t exist, but it came about thanks to the work of the prostitutes before us.We received harassment from the American media, who made us out to be the ‘whore team’, second only [in negative press] to Brazil’s corrupt politicians. We had a lot of backlash from the media. But it was not always negative, some of it benefited us too. Maybe some [media] just didn’t understand our country’s culture.Regardless, the clients who came respected us, whether they were women or men. It was really cool for Belo Horizonte. We made a lot of money; some of us bought cars, houses, condos. We even had fan buses and tour buses come through our locations, and taxi cabs that were taking people to hotels. The whole night, clients would come speaking languages I didn’t understand.To help us communicate, we put out a little book with options. [Ed. note: APROSMIG worked with a local English teacher to create the Puta Livro , or Whore’s Book, with phrases to help sex workers and clients communicate.] We’d open the book and the client would point to what they wanted, and that was our exchange. There are more experienced prostitutes who speak other languages very well, and so for them, it was easier. But for those of us who don’t speak other languages, the book worked very well.Yes. We need to get rid of the ‘poor little girl’ portrayal. Prostitutes who didn’t live where games took place travelled to other cities and made money. We need to be careful about what we say and how it reflects on others.Never. It’s actually the opposite. My dad is in the military and police force, so it doesn’t matter at home. I was always honest about my identity and what I do. When you start with a lie, it’s hard to reverse it. I’ve always done what I liked to do. I left a banking career because I didn’t like it. It was too much stress. Now, I feel so much better, and have a lot less stress and no psychological problems.I want women to know that this is a job. Women are equal in any profession, so we should all have equal rights as if we worked in any other industry. Some leave and go to college, then come back because it’s something they like. It is a choice. And we can choose to do something for as long as we want and change it whenever we want, because that’s our right.Ed. note: This interview has been translated from Portuguese and edited for length and clarity.Ed. note: Refinery29 uses the terms "sex work" and "sex worker", however, we respect the rights of our interviewees to describe themselves in the language they are most comfortable with.