A raunchy porn star has told how she plans to run for parliament in Brazil’s next election.
Elisa Sanches – one of the most searched for names on hard-core adult websites – says she plans to stand on a women’s rights ticket.
Sanches – who presents the erotic reality show ‘A Casa das Brasileirinhas’ – raised eyebrows by announcing her pre-candidacy for the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) of Rio de Janeiro.
She joined the centre-left party – founded by the late former governor of Rio de Janeiro Leonel Brizola – in October last year.
And now she says she will soon announce her candidacy for election to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies.
Sanches told local media: “I want to study and think about other aspects that I can change in the country.
“I didn’t corrupt myself in the world of prostitution, it will be the same in politics.”
Inspired by the activist Gabriela Leite – who founded the NGO Davida, which supports sex workers in Brazil, and who died in 2013 – Sanches intends to continue the fight for the rights of prostitutes.
Sanches’ announcement of her political ambitions comes as the adult actress is set to launch an authorised biography in September this year.
Sanches – who boasts 679,000 followers on Instagram and 425,500 on Twitter – said: “My main objective is to support women in situations of violence.
“I was a victim and raised my daughter alone. I understand female pain.
“I want to propose laws that also improve the working conditions of escorts. We exist.”
Sanches, from Rio de Janeiro, had a tough childhood, allegedly enduring abuse at the hands of her stepfather.
She managed to finish school but interrupted her computer science studies when she became pregnant aged 22.
When she broke up aged 26, she faced depression and ended up getting what was advertised as a massage therapist job.
However, it turned out to be an escort job – something, she said, that “ended up raising my self-esteem”.
After entering the world of porn in May 2016, she quickly won over admirers. She is now one of the best-known adult actresses in the country.
If elected to Brazil’s lower house, Sanches would not be the first Brazilian porn star turned federal deputy.
Former adult actor Alexandre Frota, 58, was elected federal deputy for the state of Sao Paulo in 2018 as a member of the far-right Social Liberal Party.
He is still in parliament but now belongs to the centre to centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party.
