[NextGenderation]
//////////////////////////////////////////////
This mail to inform you that the Network of Sex
Workers Project (NSWP:
www.nswp.org) lost one of his co-founder, and that the
network's
members all
over the world are affected.
Françoise
Paulo Longo, 40, worked to promote the human rights of
sex workers
Paulo Henrique Longo, co-founder of the Network of Sex
Work Projects,
died
of a heart attack at his home in Rio de Janeiro on
Friday, October 8,
2004.
He had suffered from diabetes and its complications
for twenty years.
He was an influential leader in the fight for human
rights for gay
people
and sex workers in Brazil and around the world. Mr.
Longo was
instrumental
in the emerging gay rights movement in Brazil. He
wrote a regular
column
addressing gay rights for the Brazilian press. Mr.
Longo was an
ex-prostitute who co-founded the Network of Sex Work
Projects. The
Network
began as an informal association that has since grown
in influence. At
the
time of his death, Mr.Longo was the coordinator of the
Network. Mr.
Longo
was known for his eloquence and his talent for
oratory, as well as tact
and
diplomacy that did not cloud sensitive issues related
to prostitution.
He
was co-author with his wife,Cheryl Overs, of Making
Sex Work Safe, a
handbook for offering services to sex workers.
Mr. Longo advocated for the rights of sex workers in
many international
forums, including AIDS Conferences and UN meetings on
public health and
human rights.
In an interview at the most recent AIDS Conference
this past July, Mr.
Longo
emphasized the importance of the participation of sex
workers in
determining
policies addressing sex work:
"We are most of us sex workers ourselves, or we have
personal
experiences
with
the sex industry. The slogan of the NSWP is 'Sex
workers are part of
the
solution.' We strongly believe that we who have been
affected by the
issues
can contribute more than people from the outside. Of
course we
recognize the
contributions of others, from technicians, health care
professionals,
social
workers, but believe that we hold the solutions within
ourselves."
Mr. Longo discussed the rise of his strong convictions
in a 2003
interview.
"In 1988," he recalls, "I was training at a public
hospital and I was
asked
by a local NGO to help a researcher do a study of rent
boys in Rio." A
year
later, when Longo saw the so-called results in a
British medical
journal, he
reacted with horror: "They were saying that 43 percent
of Brazilian
male sex
workers were infected with HIV -- but I knew that this
study only
tested 33
people,eight of whom were seropositive." The boys,
whether infected or
not,
were never told about their results. Longo was
discovering a pattern of
unethical research: "Getting the blood of boys and
women on the
streets,
everywhere in the world. Never giving them the
results. That's when I
started to get more politically involved."
Mr. Longo continued his efforts to improve research
ethics throughout
his
career. He supported Cambodian sex workers' protests
of unethical
practices
in a recent study in Cambodia. Mr. Longo brought his
ethical standards
to
his own research over the past three years as the
principal
investigator on
a study of community development among sex workers in
Rio de Janeiro.
Sex
workers were intricately involved in designing the
methodology of this
study
and conducting the research.
Mr. Longo is survived by his wife, Cheryl Overs, of
Brighton, UK, a
brother,
and his mother, in Rio de Janeiro.
Contact: Melissa Ditmore, Network of Sex Work
Projects,
rights@???, or
Prostitutes of New York, +1 212 713 5678
This mail to inform you that the Network of Sex
Workers Project (NSWP:
www.nswp.org) lost one of his co-founder, and that the
network's
members all
over the world are affected.
Françoise
Paulo Longo, 40, worked to promote the human rights of
sex workers
Paulo Henrique Longo, co-founder of the Network of Sex
Work Projects,
died
of a heart attack at his home in Rio de Janeiro on
Friday, October 8,
2004.
He had suffered from diabetes and its complications
for twenty years.
He was an influential leader in the fight for human
rights for gay
people
and sex workers in Brazil and around the world. Mr.
Longo was
instrumental
in the emerging gay rights movement in Brazil. He
wrote a regular
column
addressing gay rights for the Brazilian press. Mr.
Longo was an
ex-prostitute who co-founded the Network of Sex Work
Projects. The
Network
began as an informal association that has since grown
in influence. At
the
time of his death, Mr.Longo was the coordinator of the
Network. Mr.
Longo
was known for his eloquence and his talent for
oratory, as well as tact
and
diplomacy that did not cloud sensitive issues related
to prostitution.
He
was co-author with his wife,Cheryl Overs, of Making
Sex Work Safe, a
handbook for offering services to sex workers.
Mr. Longo advocated for the rights of sex workers in
many international
forums, including AIDS Conferences and UN meetings on
public health and
human rights.
In an interview at the most recent AIDS Conference
this past July, Mr.
Longo
emphasized the importance of the participation of sex
workers in
determining
policies addressing sex work:
"We are most of us sex workers ourselves, or we have
personal
experiences
with
the sex industry. The slogan of the NSWP is 'Sex
workers are part of
the
solution.' We strongly believe that we who have been
affected by the
issues
can contribute more than people from the outside. Of
course we
recognize the
contributions of others, from technicians, health care
professionals,
social
workers, but believe that we hold the solutions within
ourselves."
Mr. Longo discussed the rise of his strong convictions
in a 2003
interview.
"In 1988," he recalls, "I was training at a public
hospital and I was
asked
by a local NGO to help a researcher do a study of rent
boys in Rio." A
year
later, when Longo saw the so-called results in a
British medical
journal, he
reacted with horror: "They were saying that 43 percent
of Brazilian
male sex
workers were infected with HIV -- but I knew that this
study only
tested 33
people,eight of whom were seropositive." The boys,
whether infected or
not,
were never told about their results. Longo was
discovering a pattern of
unethical research: "Getting the blood of boys and
women on the
streets,
everywhere in the world. Never giving them the
results. That's when I
started to get more politically involved."
Mr. Longo continued his efforts to improve research
ethics throughout
his
career. He supported Cambodian sex workers' protests
of unethical
practices
in a recent study in Cambodia. Mr. Longo brought his
ethical standards
to
his own research over the past three years as the
principal
investigator on
a study of community development among sex workers in
Rio de Janeiro.
Sex
workers were intricately involved in designing the
methodology of this
study
and conducting the research.
Mr. Longo is survived by his wife, Cheryl Overs, of
Brighton, UK, a
brother,
and his mother, in Rio de Janeiro.
Contact: Melissa Ditmore, Network of Sex Work
Projects,
rights@???, or
Prostitutes of New York, +1 212 713 5678
_______________________________
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