Bolivia: Prostitutes on hunger strike

Prostitutes in a city near the Bolivian capital of La Paz have sown their lips shut as part of a hunger strike. Though prostitution is legal in the Andean country, sex workers in El Alto are protesting at a health center against the closing of bars and brothels by the city’s government:

"We are fighting for the right to work and for our families' survival," Lily Cortez, leader of the El Alto Association of Nighttime Workers, told local television.
"Tomorrow we will bury ourselves alive if we are not immediately heard. The mayor will have his conscience to answer to if there are any grave consequences, such as the death of my comrades," she said, surrounded by about 10 prostitutes who had sewn their lips together with thread.

The shutdown of El Alto’s bars and brothels came about after those businesses were ransacked and destroyed by an “angry mob” last week.

Sources- news.com.au, Reuters, AFP

Image- Canada.com (“Sex workers cover their faces in a health center, where they are holding a hunger strike in El Alto, October 22, 2007”)