Archives for: July 2008
07/21/08
Categories: Living in Costa Rica, Family, Marriage, Relationships, Sex, Prostitution, Pimping, Sex Tourism
Child's first pimp might be Mom
Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/072108.htm
Second of two parts
By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Costa Rican girls — and boys — get into prostitution for a variety of reasons in Costa Rica. Most of the reasons have to do with family economics. Some households that cannot make ends meet push their kids into selling themselves.
In the campo, the countryside, some mothers tell their sub-teen girls to go hang out around the local bar to sell themselves to the patrons. The girls take their earnings home so the family can survive. In other cases, the mothers of these kids are just money hungry. The easiest way for them to make money is to pressure their children into prostitution.
07/07/08
Categories: Living in Costa Rica, Family, Marriage, Relationships, Sex, Prostitution, Pimping, Sex Tourism
Illegal pimping is the engine that drives sex tourism
Link: http://www.amcostarica.com/070708.htm
First of two parts
By Garland M. Baker
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica. The activity is legal because there is no law against it. In this country, if there is no law prohibiting something, it is legal.
The legality of paid sex has spawned a wide range of activities that are not legal. Yet Costa Rica makes no effort to enforce these laws, despite lip service to the contrary.
The criminal code lumps most of these illegal activities under the heading of pimping. The skeptical could call it, simply, marketing.
Costa Rica has become a magnet for the sex tourist. The country rivals competitors like Thailand, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic and Cuba. Brazil and the Dominican Republic are the de facto leaders for sex tourism in the Western Hemisphere, but Costa Rica is a serious contender.
