Prostitution in Ecuador

Prostitution in Ecuador is legal and regulated, as long as the prostitute is over the age of 18,[1] registered, and works from a licensed brothel.[1] Prostitution is widespread throughout the country.[2][3][4][5] Many brothels and prostitutes operate outside the regulatory system and the regulations have been less strictly enforced in recent years.[1] 25,000 prostitutes were registered in the year 2000.[6] In 2007 it was estimated that 70% of the prostitutes in the country were from Colombia.[7] The country attracts Colombian prostitutes as the currency is the US$ rather than the unstable Colombian peso.[6] UNAIDS estimate there to be 35,000 prostitutes in the country.[8]

Quito was the first city in Ecuador to regulate prostitution in 1921, requiring prostitutes to be tested weekly for STIs. The results were recorded in the "Register of Venereal Disease". Testing and any necessary treatment were free to the prostitutes.[9] Guayaquil and Riobamba introduced a similar system of regulation in 1925.[9] In 1939, about 1,000 prostitutes were registered in Quito.[9]

In 2015, 6 hotels used for prostitution were closed down by the authorities in the Historic Centre of Quito.[10] Following protests by the sex workers, the administrator of the Central Zone, Joffre Echeverría, pledged to set up a new zone for them to work in.[11]

Brothels are known as "chongos"[12] or "licensed centers of tolerance".[13]

  1. ^ a b c "Sex Work Law". Sexuality, Poverty and Law Programme. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  2. ^ Emerald, Daily (16 July 2007). "Ecuadorian brothels illuminate red-light truths". Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  3. ^ Crowder, Nicholas (15 October 2009). CultureShock! Ecuador: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. ISBN 9789814435734. Retrieved 9 January 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Adshade, Marina (21 April 2012). "The Price of Sex in South America: A Guide for Secret Service Agents". Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  5. ^ Cunningham, Scott; Shah, Manisha (10 August 2016). The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Prostitution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199915255. Retrieved 9 January 2017 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ a b Soguel, Dominique (10 April 2009). "Ecuador Sex Workers Target HIV-AIDS Prevention". Women's eNews. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  7. ^ Crowder, Nicholas (2006). Culture shock!. a survival guide to customs and etiquette. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-0761424956.
  8. ^ "Sex workers: Population size estimate - Number, 2016". www.aidsinfoonline.org. UNAIDS. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "Quito: History and Prostitution". Andes Anthropologist. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  10. ^ Rosero, Mariela (19 October 2015). "Municipio participó de operativo de control a hostales cerradas" [Municipality participated in control operation to closed hostels]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  11. ^ Rosero, Mariela (30 November 2015). "Administrador Centro propone habilitar temporalmente exhotel para el trabajo sexual en esa zona" [Administrator Center proposes to temporarily enable exhotel for sex work in that area]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference emerald was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference soguel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).