The metropolitan governor, Claudio Orregomet this Friday with neighbors and merchants from different neighborhoods of the capital – such as Matta Norte and Bustamante – with the aim of seek measures to eradicate the street sex trade in the Metropolitan Region and particularly in the commune of Santiago.
During the meeting, Orrego addressed his proposal to have a Red Light District in Santiago and maintained that «we know that this is a very controversial measure, complex to implement. This is like having a landfill or a prison: It is necessary, but no one wants it. It has been a solution that other countries such as France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, and We believe that it is a topic that must be studied«said the governor.
«We have to study how it has been implemented in other places, what problems it brings with it, where it could be, but what has become clear to us is that Eradicating the street sex trade should be a priority for all authorities in the Metropolitan Region«said the authority, who will seek re-election in office.
Orrego insisted that sexual commerce in public spaces it is being used as a facade for other types of criminal activities such as drug trafficking.
The task of building security is shared by everyone. We participated in the Institutional Relationship and Organized Crime seminar to tell that since the @Gob_Santiago We are doing a lot without having powers: support with armored vehicles, intelligence and technology to… pic.twitter.com/eynXY9mV3A
— Claudio Orrego L. (@Orrego) April 26, 2024
A neighbor from the Matta neighborhood, Paulina Levycommented that «Today we come to deliver (to Orrego) a proposed ordinance that regulates street sex tradefor the entire issue of violation, which is a law of priority national interest, to the rights of children and also obviously for the protection of the fundamental rights that all citizens have.
«But this Nor is it an issue of stigmatizing the profession of sexual commerce that has existed all our lives and that, probably, will not cease to exist. Simply it has to be regulatedat least in public spaces,» he added.
Among some of the proposals that Governor Orrego delivered to address this problem are improving the urban environment through lighting and surveillance cameras; that the institutions comply with the law to supervise said types of activities and establish municipal ordinances to establish street sex trade, which currently only exists in Las Condes, Iquique and Concepción.
HASSLER: SANTIAGO DOES NOT HAVE THE CONDITIONS
Regarding Orrego’s proposal, the mayor of Santiago, Irací Hassler (PC)explained that «our commune is a commune that has residential characteristics, 26 neighborhoods that have history, heritage, which are meeting spaces and, therefore, which they do not generate the conditions for the installation of that. It seems to me that it should be a debate that takes place at the national level, at the metropolitan level, and for this we will be able to contribute to the discussion.»
The mayor added that her management is focused on recover public spaces and improve security of Santiago, so – he stated – this is the work they hope to do together with the Metropolitan Government.