Mamas de la Esquina 1 Favorite 

Argentina's Sex Workers Get Creative
In Argentina, the combination of prostitution being legal and a lack of protective laws has led one group, AMMAR, to get inventive. Their series of ads featured in this slide show, created by Ogilvy & Mather of Argentina for a campaign called Mamas de la Esquina, are to inform the Argentine public that 86 percent of sex workers fighting for their rights are mothers working to feed their children. The hope is that these ads will push the public to support laws protecting these mothers from exploitation and police violence.

Ignacio Jardón and Diego Bertagni, the creative directors at Ogilvy who were the brains behind these ads, sought to convey one simple message with their work, "their reality, they are sex workers and mothers." The ads were placed around Buenos Aires last April in the neighborhoods of Belgrano, Palermo, San Telmo, and Constitución.

The clever use of the wall corners mirror the surprise most feel when looking beyond these women as simply prostitutes and seeing the statistic of close to nine in 10 being mothers. The creators also chose corners because "in every part of the world, street corners are the emblematic spots where sexual workers offer their services."

Jardón and Bertagni, the aforementioned creative forces behind these ads, say they hope the images start a conversation, because prostitution “is such a controversial matter for society and for justice that it goes unnoticed.”

While some of the images have been removed or faded, some remain on the walls throughout Buenos Aires. In the end, regardless of one's stance on the pros and cons of prostitution being legal, the push to protect mothers of all occupations merits attention. Hat tip to BuzzFeed for bringing this to our attention.

William O’Connor
06.13.13
www.thedailybeast.com