Barely legal

I still haven’t figured out the answer to my main research question: How is street prostitution regulated in Quito? The answer should be fairly straight forward but it isn’t because the law is vague and the enforcement of the law is completely arbitrary. To make matters worse, the police themselves don’t seem to know whether street prostitution is legal or not. I have asked several officers about it, all of whom have given me different answers. Prostitution falls within a gray area of jurisdiction and unfortunately, sex workers become vulnerable to the whims of patrolling officers on any given day.

Until 2001 the red-light district of Quito was officially situated in the historic center, its main drag located on 24 de Mayo Avenue. On this avenue about 16 or so brothels existed, all with different names of foreign cities like Paris, New York, Havana, Moscow, etc. Roughly about 1,000 women were employed in these bar-club-brothel locales. Due to the success of these places, little street prostitution existed at this time. As such, Quito’s sex industry was neatly contained within 24 de Mayo Avenue. The municipality set regulations for these brothels to function legally: the prohibition of minors, bi-monthly health exams of all the workers, their possession of identification cards displaying exam results, operating hours from 11am-11pm Monday-Saturday, sales limited to beer, no liquor, and several stipulations ensuring sanitary-hygienic conditions. At times different brothels were shut down for several days at a time in violation of certain stipulations, but generally things on 24 de Mayo ran smoothly.

Caving to pressure from political and business elites, in 2001 Mayor Paco Moncayo shut down all the brothels of 24 de Mayo to make way for the neighborhood’s gentrification. Quito’s historic center is Latin America’s largest and best-preserved colonial district and was declared UNESCO’s first World Heritage Site in 1978. For that reason, it has always attracted a lot of tourists despite its reputation for being incredibly dangerous. Quito finally got the international funding it needed to clean up the center and its first major project was to remove all the brothels. Moncayo promised to establish a new red-light district in a different part of the city and finally, in 2008, La Cantera, an old quarry in the San Blas neighborhood to the west of the center became the new established strip. However, during the time from the closing of 24 de Mayo’s brothels in 2001 to the establishment of the new district in 2008, street prostitution in the historic center flourished.

Sex workers flocked to the streets and plazas of the old town, exacerbating the “problem” for the municipal government since now they were more visible than ever. Although the elites want the center to gentrify as quickly as possible, it is still the epicenter of Quito’s drug and sex industries. As mentioned in a previous post, many women prefer working on the streets than in brothels. La Cantera is difficult to access, as no public bus goes near it. It is a 15 minute taxi ride from the historic center, costing $1.50 or $2 which is well beyond the budget of either clients or sex workers. Further, one can’t even see it from the street. You must walk down a ramp to arrive at the “strip” consisting of three brothels. It is a pathetic replacement for the bustling business located previously on May 24 Avenue. The women think so too.

I recently interviewed someone in the municipal government working on the “problem” of prostitution in the streets of the historic center. He is part of a team figuring out how to convince the women on the street to move to La Cantera. Their plan will unfold in different stages and I must admit, he seemed genuinely interested in “helping” the women. He explained that the first order of business will be to provide quick, cheap and convenient transportation to La Cantera for both the sex workers and clients. Perhaps a special bus or van with La Cantera as its sole destination? Mr. Administrator also wants to build a childcare center at La Cantera, which is smart since many of the women prefer working on the streets because they have their children in daycare centers nearby. Among his other projects to make La Cantera more appealing are the construction of a cafeteria, better security (it is known to be dangerous), which would include more street lights and guards, a parking lot for individuals with private transport, and general sprucing up: painting the buildings, gardens, etc. etc.

I have my doubts that the municipal government will “convince” the women to work in La Cantera. Mr. Administrator mentioned that Plan B is to close down all the hostels in the center so the women will have nowhere to work. This seems like a draconian measure. It would be unfair to the hostel owners as well as the sex workers. In my opinion, the municipal government f**ked up from the beginning when they closed 24 de Mayo Avenue without consulting the sex workers. I think they believed that once they closed down the brothels prostitution would just magically vanish from the area. It took them years and years to find a new space, chosen by the municipal government, rather than by the workers themselves. The women feel forced to work in La Cantera which is a main reason why they refuse to budge. Unfortunately, it looks like in the near future they will have little choice. Their days on the streets are numbered, especially if all the hostels shut down. Although, even in such dire straits, I’m dubious that the sex workers will adopt La Cantera as their new workplace.