Updated 10:56 PM EDT, Mon, Mar 18, 2024

Peru Sex Worker & Activist Angela Villon Begins Campaign for Congressional Seat

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Peru's Angela Villon hopes to make in impact in Congress as she begins the long and gruelling campaign period. Villon is campaigning for the rights of underaged girls in the country who are forced into the sex slave industry.

Villon is a figure that would spark human interest amidst the other congressional candidates. Angela Villon is a sex worker and she is the first in the country who will be running for Congress. She hopes to change the face of Peru's political system and give those without a voice in the country justice and protection from oppression.

The 51-year old said that her running for a bid in Peru's congress would be "historical." The Guardian reports that Villon believes that representing the voiceless in Peru is monumental and it is highly overdue. She added that there were many instances of underaged girls and young women being forced into an industry that does not promote human rights.

Villon said that she was forced into prostitution at only sixteen because she had no money to buy medicine for her sick child. She adds that she is proud of her job as a prostitute because she believes that there is freedom in it. She also added that she does not pay attention to her detractors who belittle her job during the duration of the political campaign.

Angela Villon is running under the banner of El Frente Amplio, a political team known for its leftist ideals. There are 130 seats in Peru's Congress and Villon hopes to fill one of those seats.

Since her being in the sex industry, Villon has been active in campaigning for the rights of sex workers, as she believes that they are among the most vulnerable in the country. She actively campaigned for the HIV positive in the country as well as for the legal rights of sex workers, who she believes face violence, discrimination and abuse every day.

Peru has improved its efforts in containing human trafficking within the country. Insight Crime reported in 2013 that 2,000 individuals were rescued -- most of them being minors.

Villon refuses to let Peru's political system intimidate her and she adds that she wants to be a chief fighter for women, who she believes are still being unfairly treated in the country. She adds that the years of her being a sex worker in the country have provided her with the experience she needs to empathize with the country's poor.

She believes that she can give a voice to the voiceless. 

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