Rio Carnival parade will spotlight sex workers in effort to dismantle stigma

Описание: (12 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

THUMBNAIL: Sex worker Thauany Laressa, center, dances during a rehearsal by the Porto da Pedra samba school for a parade that seeks to raise awareness of sex workers and combat stigma, ahead of the Carnival parade in Sao Goncalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo). (ID 26043561664656)


ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sao Gonçalo, Brazil – 11 February 2026
1. Porto da Pedra samba school rehearsing in their court
2. Drummers
3. Samba dancers performing
4. Elderly members of the samba school dancing
5. Various of women who work in different fields of the sex industry dancing

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 09 February 2026
6. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Mauro Quintaes, 67 years old, Samba School Creative Director:
“Carnival is political, so we bring a storyline that talks about professionals who have been invisible for centuries and centuries.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sao Gonçalo, Brazil – 11 February 2026
7. Various of women who work in different fields of the sex industry dancing

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 09 February 2026
8. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Mauro Quintaes, 67 years old, Samba School Creative Director:
“Bringing these women to the biggest stage in the world, to the biggest popular festival in the world, is a very big victory, it's a very big victory. I think all sex workers, whether they are men, women, trans, they should stop and reflect, look at what this school is doing for our work, for our profession."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sao Gonçalo, Brazil – 11 February 2026
9. Shot showing feet and legs dancing
10. Samba school singer performing
11. Various of activist Lourdes Barreto dancing
12. Thauany Laressa dancing

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 09 February 2026
13. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Thauany Laressa, 27 years old, sex worker:
"Bring more maturity to those who are not familiar with it, who do not know each person's story, what led each person to choose this profession, which is indeed a profession. So I think the school is very brave to represent it. I feel very honored and emotional to know that I will be able to participate in this milestone in history, to talk about us in public."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sao Gonçalo, Brazil – 11 February 2026
14. Thauany Laressa dancing
STORYLINE:
When Lourdes Barreto fled her home in Brazil’s northeastern state of Paraiba as a teenager — a move that launched her into sex work and a lifetime of activism — she never imagined that six decades later a samba school in Rio de Janeiro would pay tribute to her life's journey.

That's exactly what Porto da Pedra will do this weekend at Rio's famed Sambodrome as annual Carnival celebrations kick off.

The samba school based in the low-income city of Sao Goncalo — across the bay from Rio — will celebrate Barreto and all sex workers in an effort to dismantle the stigma surrounding the profession.

Samba is an energetic Brazilian music and dance genre that developed in Afro-Brazilian communities.

Schools spend months preparing a parade with a song, elaborate floats, and costumes, which they then present to judges during the joyful yet fierce Carnival competition.

Porto da Pedra creative director Mauro Quintaes, who designed this year's theme for the school, previously curated two parades centered on marginalized populations: thieves and people with severe mental health issues.

“I think all sex workers, whether they are men, women, trans, they should stop and reflect, look at what this school is doing for our work, for our profession,” said Quintaes.








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