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Costa Rica sex workers demand labor rights

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June 2nd, 2015 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica sex workers gathered for an event at the country’s Legislative Assembly on Monday to demand recognition of their labor rights, including vacation, severance pay, health insurance and pensions.

 

Under the auspices of International Sex Workers Day, which is marked on Tuesday, members of the “La Sala” Association, which has represented hundreds of sex workers in San Jose’s red light district for more than two decades, expressed their interest in presenting a bill to lawmakers that would guarantee labor rights for “autonomous sex work,” which is legal in Costa Rica.

 

Nubia Ordóñez Ugalde, one of the association’s coordinators, spoke of her concern for some of her coworkers who are aged 60 or older and must still perform sex work because they have no pensions, adding that such workers have difficulty finding clients due to their age.

 

Yamileth Parrales Galeano, another sex worker, demanded health insurance and comprehensive health care.  “They only look at us from the waist down.  As human beings we need quality health care,” Parrales said.

 

Rep. Ligia Fallas (Movimiento Diversidad) and Rep. Marco Castillo (Movimiento Diversidad) both expressed their support for the sex workers and their willingness to work with the Association to draft a bill to address the workers’ demands.

 

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  • Canamjay

    a good idea which could easily be financed by ConCaCaf… and seizure of Mr. Li’s assets… especially if he is prosecuted abroad.. no muss, no fuss. Now if Dona Chiwawa is implicated.. and other PLNers… should be enough dough to do it right!!

  • richard schlinder

    There could be many benefits to the workers as well as Costa Rica. The Ticas could contribute much to revenues needed.Licensing,buying Caja ins.paying the thirteen percent sales tax,aiding law enforcement,they know more about who and what is going on in C.R. than anyone.I regard these workers as people,they are a part of our society and should be recognised as such.

  • Ken Morris

    Yeah, the reason why they don’t have pensions and health coverage is that they never enrolled in the Caja as independent contractors the way they should have.

    The dirty little secret is that prostitution in CR is subsidized by the taxpayers since the prostitutes do avail themselves of public services (including a health clinic devoted to them, as well as schools for their kids, fire and police protection, etc.) and don’t pay a dime in taxes.

    Of course, they aren’t entirely to blame since the whole damn society is geared to denying their existence. I know for a fact that when a person tells a census worker that her occupation is prostitute, it is quietly re-classified as homemaker or unemployed. Odds are that a Caja clerk would refuse a prostitute’s application as an independent contractor–and then giggle about it.

    Of course, while there’s no accounting for taste, you have to wonder exactly how many clients 60-year-old struggling prostitutes are really getting. I also wonder exactly how many regard themselves as “sex workers.”

    Really, I know the red light district, and lots of prostitutes, and this is not how it works.

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