[3] Prostitutes must register and must undergo regular health checks for sexually transmitted diseases (every 20 days).
[5] In 2007, in El Alto, hundreds of prostitutes were attacked, forced to strip and beaten by angry locals; several brothels were burnt.
"We are Bolivia's unloved," said Yuly Perez, vice-president of ONAEM, the Bolivian sex workers' union, "If we don't work, who's going to feed our kids?"
Finally, there is a form of “hidden” prostitution, which can involve children as young as 8 years, often in exchange for drugs or some kind of treat or toy.
[7] The problem of child prostitution is exacerbated by poorly enforced laws and by rare and ineffective police raids.
However, recently, more efforts have been done to address this problem; in 2008, the police raided several brothels and rescued 215 children who were working there.
[8] Faced with extreme poverty, many citizens become economic migrants, and some are victimized by traffickers and forced into prostitution, both inside and outside Bolivia.
The country is also a source for victims trafficked for sexual exploitation to Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Spain, and the United States.