Between the sacred and the profane: identities, paradoxes, and ambivalences of evangelical prostitutes from a red-light district of Belo Horizonte

Abstract This study aimed to analyze the construction of the identities of evangelical prostitutes who work in a red-light district (zona do baixo meretrício) of the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. It is an exploratory and qualitative study, using in-depth interviews with 17 evangelical prostitutes, analyzed through the theoretical-methodological proposal of the linguistic discourse analysis. Among the main results, we highlight a deep sense of guilt and, in some cases, pain and suffering of evangelical prostitutes, given the paradoxicality of commune personal values and beliefs intrinsically opposed to the practices of their work. However, more objective questions, such as support themselves and their family, led them to this reality.