Prostitution took over the nightlife of Parque Lleras

On the recently painted multicolored and checkered street of Parque Lleras, in the pink zone of El Poblado, an old blond man with an English accent and a slim young black-haired woman walk hand in hand. A few meters away, another much smaller foreigner watches the scene. He soon zeroes in on the walking catalog of women that abounds along the sidewalks and outside of businesses.

He approaches one of them and they talk. After laughing and flirting, they hit the road together. The routine is repeated over and over again throughout the night with different protagonists. In this sector, surrounded by nightclubs, bars and shops, music, bustle and prostitution mix, a phenomenon that has been migrating from the Center and has grown considerably in recent years.

The tumult of women, who are organized in small groups, wander mainly through Lleras Park and the surrounding blocks, sectors in which, for a few days, the Police and the Medellín Mayor's Office have been carrying out control actions to reduce crimes such as theft and enforce the curfew for minors: they cannot be in three streets and ten races in the area, between 7:00 p.m. m. and 5:00 a.m. m., without the company of their parents or legal representatives.

The measure is implemented because this environment of prostitution favors the crime of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. For this reason, sex workers must frequently show their identity documents so that the authorities can determine their ages. Since prostitution, as a voluntary trade, is not a crime, those who prove that they are over 18 years of age can remain in the place

Paisas, Venezuelans and from other regions of Colombia, such as the Caribbean Coast and the Coffee Region, almost all of them in their youth, go around looking for clients. They offer their services through smiles, looks and provocative gestures that are visible to all in the almost complete absence of masks.

Some of them work between this site at night and the city center in the afternoon. They are places that have the trade in common, but with multiple contradictions in the way they do it and in the profits it generates.