LIMA – Sex workers at a well-known brothel in the Peruvian port of Callao mounted a peculiar protest against what they decry as unfair competition from foreign colleagues.

Media outlets reported that some 300 prostitutes wrapped in sheets from the El Trocadero bordello demonstrated in protest against the presence of foreign women.

Prostitution is legal in Peru for adult women, but they must register with municipal governments and carry health certificates, while brothels require licenses.

A representative of the protesters calling herself “Bella” told RPP radio that they have filed a complaint with immigration authorities against another nearby brothel because “they have foreigners there without their papers in order and with no license to work here.”

Canal 4 television aired shots showing how a picket of prostitutes kicked their way into their colleagues’ rooms to make them join the protest in Callao, which sits next to the Peruvian capital.

“An hour costs 120 sols ($42), but for them (the foreign prostitutes) no; since they’re desperate to make some money, they only charge 80 sols ($28) per hour,” Bella said.

“There are foreign women coming here as tourists and then they decide to work and just ruin the place,” another protester said.

This is not the first time El Trocadero employees have protested against the presence of colleagues from neighboring countries.

El Trocadero is one of the biggest, best known brothels in Greater Lima, and Alex Kouri, one of the leading candidates running for mayor of the capital, admitted last Sunday on television to having visited it on more than one occasion. EFE