Argentinian prostitutes form union

In this predominantly Roman Catholic nation, prostitution has long been considered a sin before God and a crime by law. But some of the women who practice the world`s oldest profession here have organized a union and demanded the decriminalization of prostitution so that they can be treated like other workers. Their pleas, however, have sparked political opposition led by the Catholic Church. And on the streets, they have run up against the police, who, the women say, demand a cut of their profits and who stand to lose if prostitution laws are repealed. Last Wednesday, Sandra Cabrera, a 33-year-old leader of the union, was found dead with a bullet through the back of the neck in the red-light district of Rosario, Argentina`s second-largest city. According to provincial Interior Minister Alberto Gianneschi, "There are suspicions of police involvement" in the killing of Cabrera, who in recent months reported numerous death threats against herself and her 9-year-old daughter. Sex workers in 1995 organized the Association of Women Prostitutes of Argentina, known by its acronym AMMAR -- the word amar means "to love" in Spanish -- and have appealed for government recognition as an official union. It would be the first such union in Latin America and one of a handful in the world. In September, Cabrera accused the police of protecting illegal brothels and of harassing and extorting sex workers, which led to the dismissal of two officers. Two other prostitutes belonging to the union were killed in suspicious circumstances last year, although neither had the stature of Cabrera, who ran the organization in Santa Fe province and was a public figure in Rosario. Cabrera`s body was found a block from the street corner where she worked, but an autopsy did not reveal any evidence of a struggle. "The police are the sex workers` biggest pimps," said Elena Reynaga, the head of AMMAR, at a news conference the day of the killing. "They are bothered that we are organizing, because in so doing we cut into their business." Since its founding, the prostitutes union reports its rolls have grown to 1,700 members nationwide, making it one of the largest organizations of its kind in the world, said Ana Lopes, who heads the London-based International Union of Sex Workers. Lobbying Congress and staging public protests, the union has helped pressure authorities into preventing police from arresting prostitutes in one province and in three cities, including Rosario. But in most of Argentina, the union says, prostitutes continue to pay bribes to police or risk being thrown in jail, a system that has changed little in decades. Technically, prostitution is not illegal in Argentina, but most provinces have laws on the books that allow the police to arrest sex workers for causing "scandal in the public thoroughfare." On the other hand, brothel owners are rarely taken to jail. Instead, they often form part of a shady business alliance with police officers, who collect regular payoffs from them, as well as from the prostitutes in the street. "The degree of exploitation in these (brothels) is incredible: minors, undocumented workers, foreigners who are practically kidnapped from their countries and made to work here for a plate of food," said Elisa Carca, a former senator from Buenos Aires province who introduced a bill that would decriminalize street prostitution. "The police should be out using the penal code to fight these crimes," Carca said. "But not only are they not doing this, they end up persecuting the real victims, the street prostitutes, and forcing them to negotiate for money." Reynaga and other AMMAR leaders say a government-recognized union would allow them to more effectively push for decriminalization, while fighting against child prostitution and even replacing sordid brothels with prostitute cooperatives. Political opposition to decriminalization has been spearheaded by the Catholic Church. More than 90 percent of Argentines are nominally Catholic, and while the church`s power has gradually waned in recent decades, it still wields considerable influence among the nation`s political elite. "Prostitution is a social blight," said Ana Marma Molina Gowland, who heads the women`s commission at the archdioceses in La Plata. "Decriminalizing it is only going to result in worse evils. "This would allow public morals to relax, and prostitution to increase," she said. "We have to look for other solutions that provide alternatives for these women."