SEXUAL TOURISM: SYMBOLIC ASPECTS ABOUT THE PROCESS OF TERRITORIALIZATION OF THE NEGOTIATION OF BODIES IN THE GIRLS’ VILLAGE

Aspectos simbólicos sobre o processo de territorialização do agenciamentos dos corpos na Vila das Garotas

Abstract

The objective of this discussion aims to demonstrate what are the conditions that engender the institution of the territories of the sexual trade in the city of Rosana (São Paulo) and how the agencies of the bodies involved in this activity occur. The central point for understanding the territories and territorialities of prostitution is through the narratives of residents, called “girls”, owners of night entertainment houses and tourists, because these are the subjects who are daily encountered with the circumstances "hidden" by the dynamics of "sex tourism" dressed as "fishing tourism". The city of Rosana, located in the extreme west of the state of São Paulo, was structured after the construction of two Hydroelectric Power Plants in the 1980s, which became exponents that generate employment not only for the citizens but also for thousands of workers who arrived in the city. However, with the completion of the works, many became unemployed, thus triggering a strong economic crisis in the city. With the lack of employment many residents entered the informal market, developing activities related to tourism. Because Rosana is located in a geographical area contemplated by the confluence of the Paraná and Paranapanema rivers, fishing tourism has gained expansion and today there are many residents who survive from the "profit nets", generated indirectly through sex tourism. With the opening of fishing every March 1st, this practice gains notoriety both for the number of women arriving at night entertainment houses and for the number of tourists who circulate in the city looking for ranches, inns and sexual entertainment, thus altering the quiet rhythm of the city and driving the economy of the formal and informal commercial sectors, among which sex tourism, a theme on which this work is available.