Take a look at Lima's 10-foot tall 'wall of shame' separating slums from luxury estates that's finally being torn down after 4 decades

Kai Xiang TeoSep 5, 2023, 15:11 IST

Children walk alongside the 10-foot tall "wall of shame" in Lima, Peru.Sebastian Castaneda and Klebher Vasquez, via Getty Images

A 10-foot tall "wall of shame" separates some of Lima's wealthiest neighborhoods from its most impoverished.
Now, a nearly three-mile section of the wall is coming down at the end of a four-year court battle.

In Peru's capital city of Lima, a nearly ten-foot tall "wall of shame" has separated the wealthy from the impoverished for four decades.

This year, one segment of this barb-wired wall is being demolished after a long court battle.

"It affects free transit, but also hurts the dignity of the neighbors, it is a division that separates two social groups that should not exist," Gustavo Gutierrez, a court magistrate, told Reuters in a report published Saturday.

Here are five photos that show the wall dividing some of the poorest and richest in Lima.

The "wall of shame" first came up in the 1980s over security concerns.

A view of the "wall of shame" that separates the most exclusive and prosperous areas in the district of Santiago de Surco from an economically disadvantaged zone in the district of San Juan de Miraflores in Lima, Peru.Klebher Vasquez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Now, a section of the wall is being demolished.

A boy walks along one side of the 10-foot tall barb-wired "wall of shame."Sebastian Castaneda/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

There is a stark divide between the wealthy estates on one side and the slums on the other.

An aerial view of the "wall of shame."Klebher Vasquez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The wall is not just a physical symbol of inequality, it also impedes access to better-paying jobs.

Aerial view of Lima taken over the wall which separates the Pamplona slum from the middle- and upper-class district of Santiago de Surco.Juan Zacarias/picture alliance via Getty Images

Despite a section of the wall coming down, attempts to bridge the gap between both sides are already facing resistance.

An aerial view of a boy standing on ten-foot tall "wall of shame."Klebher Vasquez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Peru's 'wall of shame' is just one of many barriers dividing the rich and poor across the globe.

See the mass exodus of vehicles inching through the Nevada desert as people clamor to escape Burning Man's soggy Black Rock City playa

Cookies on the Business Insider India website