http://www.beijadarua.com.br

Recently, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro has been using zoning laws to crack down on prostitution in areas where it annoys the middle-class burghers. Ana Paula and I have started making up gift bags of Davida literature and t-shirts and taking them to the places that get busted, handing out our cards, Davida contact info and telling the people who work there that they are not alone and to please call Davida or us if they want to talk.

We’ve had uniformly positive reception so far. Ana and I have got no calls yet, though I’m not sure about Davida (also, we’ve moved, so our phones and e-mail connections have been iffy over the past two months.)

Going up to sex workers, telling them who you are, what you do and offering support is a very good strategy for making contact. If you don’t lip gloss or t-shirts, one strategy is printing up and publishing a street sheet – a 4 – 8 page ‘zine with contact and resource info and funny and interesting stuff.