[2][3][4][5] Many brothels and prostitutes operate outside the regulatory system and the regulations have been less strictly enforced in recent years.
To obtain a licence ("carnet"), the prostitute must undergo a medical examination and be free from syphilis, chlamydia and HIV.
Prostitutes have demanded that the photographs be removed and the details of STI testing encrypted.
[15] A general strike was organised in 2000 over a number of issues, including the need for better security, better hygiene and stable rent prices.
[7][16] The organisation partnered with the Ministry of Health in 2008 to provide contraception and information on HIV/AIDS to sex workers.
[6] The Ecuadorian military ensures that there are prostitutes available for their personnel stationed in the Galápagos Islands (part of Ecuador).
[13] A 2002 International Labor Organization report estimated that 5,200 minors were engaged in prostitution.
The victims are usually children who are kidnapped, sold by their parents, or deceived by false employment opportunities.
[24] Ecuador is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking.
Nationals of Cuba, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, China, Pakistan, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, initially lured by smugglers promising a better life, have documents confiscated, debts imposed, and are forced into prostitution.
[24] Ecuador is also a destination for Colombian, Peruvian, Dominican, Venezuelan, Mexican, Haitian, Paraguayan, and Cuban women and girls exploited in sex trafficking.
Sex traffickers use emotional relationships and job offers to recruit victims and prey on vulnerabilities such as prior domestic and sexual violence.