Selling sex for gold in the Amazon's illegal mines

Life for women among the Amazon’s illegal gold miners is harsh, violent, and can be deadly.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersSelling sex for gold in the Amazon's illegal minesBBCNatalia Cavalcante says she built a house on the profits from sex workDayane Leite never wanted to become a sex worker but at the age of 17 her husband died of a heart attack and she couldn’t pay for the funeral.

Her home town, Itaituba in Brazil’s northern Para state, is at the heart of the country’s illegal gold-mining trade, so a friend suggested raising the money by having sex with miners, deep in the Amazon.

“Going to the mines is a roll of the dice,” she says.

“The women are seriously humiliated there. They may be slapped in the face and yelled at.

“I was sleeping in my bedroom and a guy jumped through the window and put a gun to my head. And if they pay, they want to own the women.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86wl5ex6gzo

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