Night Work
Brothels — LA Paz, Bolivia
This project is an ongoing documentary collaboration with sex workers in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. What began as a personal return to Bolivia evolved into an inquiry into the social systems surrounding sex work in Bolivia.
Ana
Age 28 — from Perú.
She has been working in sex work for eight years. She first entered the industry as a dancer in a club, and later transitioned to sex work when she realized she could earn more money. At times, she says she spends more evenings drinking and talking with men than having sex.
Outside of the industry, she also works as a children’s gymnastics coach and is a partial co-owner of a car-parts shop in Sucre with her expartner.
Her family knows about her work. She previously worked in El Alto, where she was drugged and assaulted on one occasion, and robbed on another.
Her former partner was violent; after one assault, she spent four days in the hospital. Even then, he called asking her not to report him because he “didn’t have money.”
She says she doesn’t want to remain in sex work much longer. She worries about how much she drinks in this environment, she trains seriously as a bodybuilder, and she has a 12-year-old son — she fears the day he might find out what she does.
Crystal
Age: 30 — from Bolivia.
Cost: 60 Bs for 15 minutes (about $7 USD)
Crystal speaks openly about her work. She loves the money, the fun, the friendships, and the sex. For a time, she worked in a “tip café” in Chile, where men could tip her if they liked her.
Her parents abandoned her when she was young. She was raised by her grandparents, who know what she does for a living and choose not to talk about it.
Crystal drinks and uses cocaine. She admits she thinks she uses too much and wants to cut back.
She chooses to work in a brothel because it feels safer than the street. If something goes wrong, she can scream and someone will come. The worst part of the job, she says, is when there are no customers.
Mid-conversation, she pours a small amount of her beer onto the floor for Pachamama, for mother earth, as an offering for good luck. “That’s probably why the floors are so sticky,” she jokes.
Her work is inconsistent. Some days she sees no one. Other days, up to twenty men.
Angelia
Age: 23 — from La Paz.
She has been working in sex work for four months. Before this, she worked as a maid for an American employer, but when that job ended, she turned to sex work as an emergency way to support herself and her six-year-old child while attending dental school.
She says that in many jobs available to women, salaries are low and paid only once a month, which makes it difficult to cover rent, school costs, and childcare.
She says she does not like the work. Her parents, who live in Sucre, do not know about it. The thought of them finding out causes her stress and fear — she worries they might take her child away. When her family visits, she says, “I pretend like nothing is happening.”
Angelia, dreams of finishing school and opening her own dental practice.