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. Quito was the first city in Ecuador to regulate prostitution in , requiring prostitutes to be tested weekly for STIs and the results recorded in the "Register of Venereal Disease". Testing and any necessary treatment was free to the prostitutes. In , 6 hotels used for prostitution were closed down by the authorities in the Historic Centre of Quito.
Brothels are known as "chongos" [12] or "licensed centers of tolerance". There is no law to criminalise sex workers or those who organise prostitutes.
Brothels are required to be registered and sex workers licensed. To obtain a licence "carnet" , the prostitute must undergo a medical examination and be free from syphilis , chlamydia and HIV. The prostitutes must be reexamined every 9 — 15 days and the licence updated. If the prostitute tests positive for STIs, their licence is suspended or revoked. The licence resembles a passport and contains a photograph of the sex worker. Prostitutes have demanded that the photographs be removed and the details of STI testing encrypted.
Street prostitution is dealt with under public order laws. The women locked themselves in a brothel for a week to obtain their demands. The success led to an increase in membership. Organisations have also been set up in other parts of the country. Child prostitution is a widely recognised problem, [18] especially on the seaport of Esmeraldas. Many child prostitutes have been abandoned or orphaned by one or both parents; some poverty-stricken parents also sell their children, wittingly or unwittingly, into prostitution.
Most child victims are trafficked internally for prostitution, but some children are also trafficked to other countries, in particular to Venezuela. The victims are usually children who are kidnapped, sold by their parents, or deceived by false employment opportunities. These children are first exploited through prostitution at the average age of As the age of consent in Ecuador is 14 and teenagers can start work at 15, some girls start working as prostitutes in the unregulated sector at 15, or even earlier with false documents.
