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Both prostitutes and brothel managers were arrested in the sting, and police seized cash and condoms. Prosecutors brought charges of pimping, arms trafficking and sex trafficking against the raided brothels, but dropped them shortly after the conference concluded. A judge presiding over the case against Monte Carlo, one of the raided brothels, openly accused the prosecution of an anti-prostitution crusade to clean up the city's image.
Sex tourism is also legal, although discouraged recently by President Dilma Rousseff. But Brazilian law criminalizes any third party who profits from the transaction, whether they are an abusive pimp, brothel owner, or private bodyguard. Two sex workers sharing an apartment is also illegal.
Brazilian anthropologists Thaddeus Blanchette and Ana Paula da Silva have catalogued almost different sex venues operating in Rio alone. Rio police have closed down 24 brothels in the last few years, or almost 10 percent of Rio's sex industry, according to data gathered by Blanchette and da Silva, and threatened or harassed another 32 venues. Outside of Rio, the anti-prostitution climate has also turned violent.
This time women were arrested, many of whom gave accounts of beatings and forced oral sex. Sex workers rights organizations from at least three more World Cup host cities are coordinating protests for June 2, International Sex Workers Day.
