The illegal mines of the Amazon where you get gold in exchange for sex
Natalia Cavalcanti built her house with money she earned through sex
A Closer Look At The Amazon's Hidden Mining Crisis
Article descriptionAuthor, Thais Karanka and Emma IslesReputation, BBC 100 WomenDated,05/12/2024
Pros:
1. Exposes Exploitation: Bringing attention to illegal mining and exploitation helps raise awareness about human rights abuses and environmental damage.
2. Promotes Accountability: Highlighting these practices can pressure governments and organizations to take action against illegal mining operations.
3. Economic Insight: The topic sheds light on the complex socio-economic factors driving illegal mining and transactional exploitation.
4. Encourages Ethical Sourcing: Awareness can encourage consumers to demand ethically sourced gold and other minerals.
Cons:
1. Safety Risks: Reporting on such topics can be dangerous for journalists and activists working in these regions.
2. Economic Dependence: Many local communities rely on illegal mining for income, and shutting down operations could leave them without livelihoods.
3. Potential Backlash: Coverage could lead to political backlash or suppression of information by powerful entities involved in the mining industry.
4. Stigmatization: Focusing on the sex-for-gold aspect might overshadow broader issues of labor exploitation and environmental harm.
Diane Lett was 17 when her husband died of a heart attack and she didn't even have enough money to pay for his funeral.
Her hometown of Itai-Tabuba in Brazil's northern state of Pará is the country's hub for illegal gold mining... A friend of Diane's suggested she raise money by having sex with miners who go deep into the Amazon.
She says going into the mines is a game of luck.
'Women are deeply humiliated there. “Maybe the men there will slap you in the face or start screaming,” she said.
“I was sleeping in the bedroom when suddenly a man jumped out the window and put a gun to my head,” she said.
Deane says that if they are paying, they consider the woman their property.
She went to the illegal mines to raise money for her husband’s funeral. She was 18 when her first child was born. For the past 16 years, like many women in Itai-Tabuba, she has worked in the mines on and off as a cook, a washerwoman, a barmaid and a sex worker.
Now Deane is responsible for supporting a family of seven.
Diane Lett was 17 years old when her husband died of a heart attack and she didn't even have enough money to pay for his funeral.
Natalia Kavalakanti became a sex worker at the age of 24 in a remote mining settlement. “I’m not saying that all women here do this, but most make a living as sex workers, so it’s a common thing here,” she says.
Four years later, she married the owner of a bar and became a brothel medium. She recently left the job to care for her nieces who live in the city.
Life in the mining settlements in the rainforest is not easy... There are dirt roads, a saloon bar and only one church.
But the miners live far away in huts made of wood and bamboo, surrounded by leopards and snakes, and when the generator goes out, it’s pitch black. The women who work as cooks have to live in these camps with the men.
Natalia says the miners only appear in the village when they have found gold in the mine and have money to spend. The women say they sometimes have to be persuaded to take a shower before having sex.
Running a brothel is a crime under Brazilian law, but Natalia says she never made any commission from the business. She says she only hired staff for the bar and rented out rooms for sex.
Young women approach her asking for work, and she sometimes pays them to travel to the brothel. It is a seven-hour drive from Itaitubba.
The Brazilian government says that 80,000 to 800,000 men work in illegal mines.
Asked if she has any qualms about giving work to other women, Natalia replied: “Sometimes I think that I have been through it all and I know what it is like, but then I think that these girls are responsible for their families and they have to raise their own children. Many girls who have one or two children, we give them work.”
Even before marriage, Natalia had made a lot of money.
Now Natalia has her own house in Itaitubba, a motorcycle and a lot of gold that she used to get in exchange for sex ... sometimes two or three grams at a time.
She wanted to study and become a lawyer or an architect.
She says that some women in Itai-Tabuba (also known as Gold Nugget City) have started their own businesses with the money they earn.
But it is dangerous for a woman to go to these violent and illegal mining settlements.
While the environmental damage caused by these mines is well known, the United Nations says there are also risks to humans, such as violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking, that are not widely discussed.
A precious metals dealer told the BBC that illegal gold from these mines is usually relabelled as the product of licensed companies before being exported for use in jewellery, mobile phones or other electronic goods.
The three biggest customers for Brazilian gold are Canada, Switzerland and the UK. According to the Institute of Escolas think tank, more than 90% of all exports to Europe come from areas where illegal mining is carried out.
Raele Santos was murdered in a mining village after allegedly refusing to have sex with a man.
The murder of women is not uncommon in these villages. The body of 26-year-old Raele Santos was found last year in a room near the Coyo Coyo mine where she was staying. It is an 11-hour drive from Itaitubba.
Her older sister Raeleni says a man offered her money for sex and she refused. The man later found Raeleni and beat her to death.
Raeleni says many women are killed every day.
“I was born in the mines, I grew up in the mines, but now I am afraid to live in the mines,” she says.
A man has been arrested in connection with Raeleni’s murder but has yet to stand trial. He denies all charges against him.
Brazil’s illegal gold mining area has more than doubled to 220,000 hectares in 2023, more than double the size of Greater London in 10 years. No one knows how many women work there or how many illegal miners there are.
The Brazilian government says there are between 80,000 and 800,000 illegal miners.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government has taken steps to close down illegal mines and stop dealers from buying gold, but rising gold prices are forcing many men to try their luck in these dangerous mines.
Due to the health risks and hardships in the mining areas, Diane wants to stop working here and is planning to do so… she hopes this will be her last trip. Her goal is to earn enough money in two or three months to return and open a snack bar.
However, she realizes that she may not be able to succeed in this business.
She says that when she is walking alone in the forest, she worries about her children.
"I will keep trying as long as I have the courage... because I think that one day my children will say: Our mother worked very hard... she endured everything for us and she never gave up."
Related topics
#Brazil #Sexual_violence #Women #Crime #Health #Sex
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