‘Many are obliged to sleep with the foreman’: Bolivia’s female builders square up to an abusive system

Members of Asomuc attend a training session on the outskirts of La Paz on how to fit rainwater tanks. Photograph: Sarah Johnson/The Guardian

Not long after teenager Reyna Quispe started working in construction in Bolivia, she found herself hiding in the bathroom to escape her male colleagues’ sexist abuse.

“Women in construction are viewed badly,” says Quispe. “Men say we harm them and distract them. It’s incredible that these attitudes still exist. There is a lot of discrimination, and on top of that women earn a lot less than men.”