A man in a suit. A boy in a cap and shorts. A man in overalls. An elderly man. Two young men in jeans. Another with a tie, briefcase still in hand. One after another, in less than a minute β the time it takes for the traffic light to change β 18 men enter a building with a red facade. This is the 12 de Octubre district of the Bolivian city of El Alto.
A guard stands at the door. Inside, there are wall-mounted urinals right near the front, where visitors can make a brief stop. On a Monday afternoon, the red light district is already filled with prostitutes, no matter where you look.
The conditioning serves, in practice, to protect it. In the cities of El Alto and La Paz, the walls of train stations, buses and the airport are covered with posters that show faces of missing people. There are also screens, where images and information of missing women and girls are displayed.
Their families continue to search for them. The lack of data complicates the ability to determine how this violence comes about. According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Government, in alone, the disappearance of 3, people was reported.
Meanwhile, a investigation by the Munasim Kullakita Foundation identified cases of commercial sexual exploitation of minors that year. Ricardo rescued his year-old daughter from a brothel in the city of Santa Cruz β in an area similar to the 12 de Octubre district of El Alto β two weeks after her disappearance.
