Shortly after teenager Reyna Quispe started construction work in Bolivia, she hid in a bathroom to escape sexual abuse from her male co-workers.
“Women in construction are looked down upon,” says Guispe. “Men say we are harming them and distracting them. It is incredible that these attitudes still exist. There is a lot of discrimination and on top of that women earn much less than men.
11 years on, and sexism, abuse and unequal pay still rife in the construction industry, Quispe, 27, no longer hides. She helps lead the Association of Construction Women (Asomuc), a group of about 60 builders fighting for equal opportunities and advocating for new legislation.
On March 8 this year, International Women's Day, Azomuk, along with Betty Yaniquez, Chair of the Committee on Human Rights and Equal Opportunities in the House of Representatives, introduced a draft law aimed at achieving greater equality and equal pay for women. The construction sector in Bolivia, which is under review.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that about 21,000 women work in construction in Bolivia, about 4.5% of the 471,000-strong workforce.
Nearly two-thirds, the ILO says, are unpaid; Some women go with their husbands. Many are single mothers and most are tribal. They have little or no information about their rights and often face domestic violence, harassment at work and sexual abuse. According to the ILO, the wage gap between men and women is 38%.
Quispe knows all too well the challenges women face in the industry. There are few opportunities for advancement and women work as assistants their entire careers. Men assume that women know nothing about construction; And there are often no separate bathrooms, putting women at risk of abuse.
“Many female co-workers are forced to sleep with the foreman because if they don't, they don't get paid,” Quisbe says. “Or [the bosses] Tell me [women]Get them drunk and say 'let's go drinking' and that's how it works. It's scary and it happens a lot.
Asomuc was founded in December 2014 by a group of women who met during training sessions run by the NGO Red Habitat to advocate for the rights of women workers. It received legal status in September 2017. It has arranged additional training from various companies in construction works and business.
Quispe is with other women working in construction at a workshop on the outskirts of La Paz on how to install rainwater tanks. Erika Vedia Zaldin, 58, explains how she got into the field. “I studied to be an electrical technician as an act of rebellion in my 30s,” he says. “When I left school, I wanted to study civil engineering, but unfortunately my father wouldn't let me. His dream was for me to become a secretary. I studied as a secretary, gave my certificate and left it there.
Vediya married a few years later and took night classes with the support of her husband, an industrial engineer, before starting construction. “It was difficult at first, like many female colleagues,” she says. “Men always try to humiliate us. But once I got some experience I learned to speak for myself.
He and Guisebe say that while men have more physical strength and the ability to carry a 50kg bag of cement, women excel in areas such as painting, tiling and laying floors.
“We have more skills than men,” says Vedya. “When we devote ourselves to painting, we are more detailed and we work more creatively. We are highly responsible and punctual. We also finish a job and leave a place clean.
Giuspe, who is studying civil engineering at university, says women can feel more comfortable with a female builder in their home.
Members of Asomuk are keen to grow the association. “We've always had three objectives,” Quispe says. “We want to have our own headquarters and a tool bank and start a company so we can win big contracts. We really want to be free to do our own work and do more projects.
He, along with Vedia and another member of Asomuk, Rocio Condori, go upstairs to apply what they learned in the training session. Laundry hangs from a line drying in the afternoon sun, with La Paz and the surrounding mountains in the background. They peer inside the tank, maneuver it to an edge, and begin fitting the parts together with glue.
Kandori, 28, a construction worker and single mother of two, says: “I face sex, but it was worse before. I never saw construction girls growing up. Things change. I wish people would stop discriminating against us. When I see a female builder, I think they are brave.
