USA funding row

The Brazilian government refuses the US government’s offer of US $40 million funding for HIV and AIDS programmes, as it requires them to state that they are against the practice of commercial sex work.

“Prostitutes are very major partners in this programme,” says Katia Guimaraes, from Brazil’s National AIDS programme. “They work along with us. We could never say that we are against prostitution, because it is not illegal in Brazil. It’s a tolerated, regulated profession.”