It is not just the hotels and tour operators, who are going to benefit the most from the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup. According to some estimates there are at least 10 lakh prostitutes in Brazil and they are also hoping to earn a lot during the World Cup.
Almost all of them are selling their bodies in the top 5-6 cities of the country. Many people are visiting Brazil during the World Cup not only to watch the great game. They also also interested in buying sex.
According to a report in 'Independent' many of these prostitutes are getting English classes to converse with the clients from English speaking countries.
A Brazilian woman speaking to 'Independent' said, "The prostitutes will get more money with the World Cup. In the nightclubs they'll be earning a lot. It's normal for foreign guys to look for them, they always do, and now there'll be more foreign guys. They'll do very well."
Some of them have taken to prostitution as a part time job during the World Cup. A dental student has been hired by a German national for $5000 (Rs 3 lakh) for two weeks. She will be with him exclusivly for two weeks.
Many prostitutes defend their profession and their decision to sell their bodies. A prostitute said, "Why feel bad? We're not here because we like it, but it's a profession and we're not going to be grumpy and be treating people badly. If we're there working, we'll be smiling. In any profession you need to be like that. And the sex is pleasurable, honestly. So if people look down on us we don't care. And when people ask, we tell them we're prostitutes, although often they don't really believe us."
According to a tour operator in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, many clients from foreign countries order underage girls and they will be directly delivered at expensive hotels for huge sums. In some shocking cases parents themselves are selling their underage daughters to pimps for money.
According to 'Independent' with a total of 3.7 million tourists expected in the country during the World Cup, there have been lurid accounts of preparations across Brazil.
In Fortaleza, a local prosecutor stated: "Foreign clients order underage prostitutes who are delivered directly by the hotels' pimps."
Meanwhile, a massage house beside Congonhos airport is said to be offering a limousine service and hiring English speakers to improve service.
Many might wonder why women take such risks, but necessity trumps choice in a nation of close to 200 million. The statistics are stark: illiteracy averages 10 per cent, reports say 13 million are underfed, 42,785 were murdered nationwide in 2013 and there is a national shortage of 168,000 physicians. Prostitution was legalised in 2000.
At the time it was suggested there were as many as one million sex workers, and while that may have been an overestimate, prostitution is undeniably widespread.
At one point, the government's own employment website offered tips for those wishing to attempt prostitution, going step by step through preparation, seduction and delivery of service. It was later toned down after much pressure from conservatives and the religious right.
According to a report in Al Jazeera a recent article on child sexual exploitation in Brazil began with the description of a sexual encounter between a sex worker who had been a former child prostitute and her client.
While such a scene may encourage readers to read the full article, the authors not only unnecessarily sexualise the topic and produce a slightly titillating effect around a rather serious topic, but they also fail to investigate the violations of children's and human rights in the years leading up to the World Cup.
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