Later, we started selling celery, but when we couldn't sell enough, my mom almost beat us to death. A few years ago, I started to have sexual relations, which leave me with a bit of money for me and my house," says R.
Few Chileans admit that child prostitution exists, but a handful of young professionals are trying to put the issue on the country's social agenda. It's an uphill struggle, the only reward when a child breaks free of the streets and manages to lead a healthy adult life.
Boris Yopo, a sociologist, estimated that prostitution is essential to the survival of 50, children, although other professionals believe this figure is too high.
Like R. They live on the streets," says Ana Maria Moya, who has worked with prostitutes for 14 years. She says the children work from 1 to 3 p.
Children as young as 8 service clients in bus terminals, on highways, in cars, bars and squalid hotels. Mostly they work alone, their only support a tightly knit peer group, fiercely loyal to anyone who has passed their violent initiation rites. The girls who find "protection" working a local bar are drawn into "a system of slavery," says Moya.
