Just when you thought that prostitutes couldn't get any crazier.
The crime rates in El Alto, Bolivia, were at an all-time high. City officials traced the crime back to the Red Light District. It was the root of the problem: the area was haven for criminals. The town government, fed up with the elevated crime rate, decided last week to shut down the city's bars and brothels in an effort to clean up their city. It was a step in the right direction in an effort to make the city a better place to live, which should ultimately be the goal of any city.
Unfortunately, the city's prostitutes found themselves out of jobs, but still with a few tricks up their sleeves. These ladies were distraught over losing their jobs because the city said they were perpetuating the moral turpitude that was destroying the city. They argued that prostitution is legal in Bolivia, and the city had no right to suddenly put hundreds of people out of work. They rallied together and formed the El Alto Association of Nighttime Workers, which is like the Bolivian Hooker Local 404. Together, they are fighting the ruling by going on a hunger strike. Many group members have sewn their mouths shut with string to show their dedication.
One of the most inalienable rights we have as humans and as members of a society is the right to protest. If we think something is unjust or we are being treated unfairly, we have the right to show discontent through protesting. To make a change, the people in charge have to know there is a problem and many people are unhappy and unsatisfied with the current situation. The ultimate goal of any protester is to come to some sort of agreement with the governing force they are protesting against, to engage in a forum in which some sort of agreement can be reached and both parties can be partially satisfied with the outcome. However, it is nearly impossible to bargain with anyone when your mouth is sewn shut.
Forget that one of a hooker's most valuable assets is her mouth and sewing it shut only damages her own merchandise and robbing herself of potential business. That's not the point. The point is that a protest can only be resolved though a mutual solution, and it's kind of hard to come to that point when one side of the argument is unwilling and unable to communicate. And yet, they want to take it a step further. The group is threatening that if they are not heard, they will start burying themselves alive until the brothels and bars are reopened. This isn't really incentive for the city officials, because it's actually quite simple to win a debate if your opponent kills herself during said debate.
What's even harder to understand is why these women are fighting so hard to keep their jobs. Contrary to popular belief, "Bolivian slum streetwalker" has never once appeared on Forbes' Hot Jobs list. The closing of the brothels should be seen as a ticket out, a chance for these women to do something else. Granted, there are probably not a lot of options for ways to improve your life in the impoverished ghettos of Bolivia, but there never will be if the city allows the brothels to continue.
There are right ways and wrong ways to protest, and in order to be effective at protesting, you have to be reasonable and willing to work to reach a settlement. These women need to let their town improve, give up the sex-for-money business and pick up a new trade - perhaps sewing; they already seem pretty good at that.
Write to Paul at pjmetz@bsu.edu
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