2004-02-03
Crackdown on Prostitution
Planned
The Ministerio de Seguridad Pública is planning a
crackdown on prostitution in Costa Rica.
Along with Municipal officials, the Ministry's plan
is to shut down any business or operation that
provides sexual services though masking as a
legitimate business.
Their main focus of the plan is on massage parlors,
who have for long operated under a "pension" or
"hotel" license, but in reality offer no services of
a hotel.
These businesses in fact employ girls to attend to
customers' sexual needs and requests.
Authorities have permitted massage parlors to
operate freely from reprisals for a long time. In
San José alone there are an estimate of over 100
such massage parlors who are really fronts for
prostitution.
Authorities are not necessarily planning on stopping
prostitution, as such a feat would be useless since
prostitution is legal in Cost Rica.
Their plan calls for a licensing of businesses
such as massage parlors that deal in the sex trade.
And in conjunction with the office of the newly
created department that deals with the commercial
exploitation of sex, the authorities will be closely
monitoring those businesses.
Massage parlors, under the new plan, would be forced
to provide a massage table and possibly licensed
masseuses to attend clients. The current practice of
providing a bed in the room would be made contrary
to licensing regulations.
If this plan comes to fruition, many massage parlors
and bars that offer 'massage' services would be
closed or have to change their way of operation. The
effect on 'sex tourism' could be dramatic and that
is the objective of the government's plan.
Curbing 'sex tourism' nothing new. It has been
debated and discussed for several years, more with
the current foreign television reports that have
been broadcast in the U.S and Europe graphically
showing prostitutes and customers in negotiating for
sexual services.
The focus is primarily to combat under-age
prostitution. Along with the children's services
Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI),
authorities have been hitting hard on establishments
that allow minors to work their trade.
Casa Alianza, the children's rights organization has
been successful to bring this problem to the
forefront, embarrassing former Costa Rican President
Rodriguez who claimed on the U.S. national
television show 20/20 in December 2000, that there
were only 20-30 underage prostitutes in the country.
The case made by the different interest groups and
government authorities is the arrest this year of a
major 'madam' who traded in minors, as well as
several arrests and convictions of persons who were
nabbed for providing minors to tourists.
The planned changes
and possible closing of massage parlors would not
affect the ability to contract sexual services and
take the girl back to one's hotel room or home.
Prostitution in Costa Rica is a way of life. Many
girls enter the sex trade as way to make ends meet,
to feed and clothe their babies and in some cases to
support the entire household.
Many households are of single parent, where the
mother is the only income earner, providing support
for a number of her children and older family
members.
Many mothers know about their daughter's work in the
sex trade, however, tend to ignore or close a blind
eye in favor of the economical benefit.
Most prostitutes in Costa Rica are not hard core,
that is, they don't practice the trade every day
and/or to feed their addictions to drugs.
Many work on as the need arises basis. The need to
buy school supplies, food and clothing. shelter,
medical care and so on.
Typically, holidays and special events are times
were a large number of girls become prostitutes only
for a short time, to meet the needs and requirements
of their familyu obligations. Only in a few cases,
do these girls stay in the "business" for good.
High tourist season is another active period
wheremany girls, to earn some extra cash, turn to
streets and/or local bars, massage parlors and night
clubs. The beaches during the high tourist season
are full of girls that will, for exchange of
payment, provide company and sexual intercourse.
These are girls that are holding down a regular low
paying job and turn to prostitution at night,
weekends or the occasional period, to supplement
their income.
Some look for a foreigner to meet their needs on a
regular and continuing basis, providing company and
sexual services during his stay in Costa Rica. This
set up is preferred by many than to regularly
hustling customers and risk the chance of being
exposed as a prostitute.
The government's plan will be coming before the
Legislative Assembly for discussion and passage of
the new regulations that would allow the Minister to
enforce them.
For now, the local Municipality along with officials
of the Fuerza Publica, Immigration and Drug
Enforcement, continue their constant battle of wits
to show force and unity on the government's part to
crackdown.
The Municipality of San José has been successful in
the efforts to enforce municipal code violations to
shut down several massage parlors in the past, if
only for a few days at a time.
2004-01-07
Nicaraguans
"Now" Need Passport to Enter Costa Rica
Following years of problems at the northern border at Peñas Blancas with
thousands of Nicaraguans entering Costa Rica, given differences in the type
of documents required - cedula, special permit and is come cases, pay-offs,
the immigration department has announced that it will require all
Nicaraguans to have only one document to enter - a passport.
Marco Badilla, Director of immigration, accepted that in the past
immigration officials have been lax and confused when it came to their
neighbours to the north. Some officials would allow entry only the
presentation of a cedula.
Now, "notwithstanding that a person may be a resident of Costa Rica, all
Nicaraguans will be required to produce a valid passport to gain entry',
said the immigration director.
This situation could affect many Nicaraguans who work in Costa Rica and make
the traditional visit home for the Christmas holidays. A Nicaraguan passport
costs about US$80 and takes several days to procure, causing many not to be
able to return to work in time.
According to immigration statistics, for the period of 17 December 2003 and
1 January 2004, 5.490 persons were denied entry into Costa Rica for not
having the proper documentation required by the immigration department.
2004-01-19
Changes in Residency Proposed
Becoming a resident by way of
marriage has become fashionable, according to immigration officials.
Each year that are between 60 and 120 residencies are issued that
are based on a marriage of a foreigner to a Costa Rican. According to
the Family Code, a marriage can take place without the foreigner being
present, provided he/she has given a power of attorney to notary
public to that effect.
Immigration director Marco Badilla, indicated that they currently have
80 request for residencies by Cuban Nationals that are being supported
by that section of the Family Law.
In addition, Badilla, stated that each year they get numerous requests
by persons who are in the process of being deported, to avoid having
having to leave the country, including, the case of a minor who works in
a night club, who is married to a 60 year old man to obtain residency in
Costa Rica.
Getting married in Costa Rica is a simple process that involves the
couple to be married, a lawyer and witnesses. The couple in fact never
have to meet, they can each sign the marriage document separately - by
power of attorney included - which the lawyer then registers for it to
be official.
With document in hand, a foreigner now married to a Costa Rican can
apply to the immigration department for residency, which allows the
person to remain in the country legally.
The residency process can take usually up to a year to process, at which
time a provisional residency cedula is issued.
Many foreigners are now living and working legally in Costa Rica,
obtaining their residency in this way. Most have never met their spouse,
just a name of a piece of paper and following the issuing of residency,
file for divorce.
Some lawyers are in the practice, for a fee, of providing the spouse for
the foreigner in addition to providing the legal services of completing
the marriage and the residency application.
Badilla said that the country is at risk with these types of requests
and said that a proposal is being put forth by the immigration
department to have the law changed and stop the entry of foreigners who
have criminal or doubtful pasts and to become residents by way of
marriage. |
2004-01-18
More Raids on Night Spots
Authorities are using a heavy hand on night clubs and massage parlors,
raiding locations and shutting them down for licensing violations. The
Municipality of San José is being aggressive in it's commitment to the
prestigious and established community of Barrio Amon and surround areas.
On
Friday the 16th of January, on separate, but related, incidents officials raided the New
Fantasy massage parlor in Barrio Amon and the newly opened Atlantis night
club in La Uruca.
Atlantis had opened it's doors for the first time on Thursday night.
A
visit to the night spot was greeted by a sign on the front gate "Cerrado
Hoy" and when asked, the security guard told a story of electrical
problems forcing the club to close indefinetely. |
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The New Fantasy massage parlor is located in Barrio Amon and residents
and community leaders have been up in arms over the past year over the
opening of another massage parlor in the community and the transvestites
who have overtaken the streets at night.
Johnny Araya,
mayor or San José, has promised a clean up of the area and is using
licensing and other municipal code issues to close or at least temporarily
disrupt those businesses in the area.
In the case of New Fantasy, municipal officials claim that the locale was
using a license to host guests and not offer sexual services. In the case of
Atlantis, they fall 5 meters short of a law that pretends to move
establishments that offer the sale liquor to 400 meters from schools, parks
and churches.
Atlantis, according to municipal officials' calculations is only 395 meters
from the nearby sports park in La Uruca.
New Fantasy re-opened several days later, satisfying municipal
officials of their compliance with the regulations and municipal
codes. Atlantis remains closed indefinetely.
2004-01-10
Putting
the Sex Trade on Notice
Around the
world, about one million women and children are
seduced into leaving their homelands every year and
forced into prostitution or menial work in other
countries.
Most are duped with promises of good jobs in more
prosperous nations. These cases are not confined to
remote parts of the world.
Of the 15 nations the U.S. State Department listed
last year as having done little or nothing to stop
this growing human rights abuse, five of the worst
offenders were in the Western Hemisphere: Belize,
Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname.
A study by the Inter-American Commission of Women at
the Organization of American States in Washington
shows that Latin American nations have mostly sat
back as women and children were treated as chattel.
Women from Colombia were smuggled as far away as
Japan, and Dominican women ended up against their
will in Switzerland. Young Mexicans were enslaved in
several states, including Texas, Florida and New
Jersey.
Costa Rica and Belize became destinations for
impoverished women from Nicaragua, Guatemala, El
Salvador and Honduras. Without passports or money,
they were forced to supply sex to tourists, usually
from the United States and Europe.
At least 70 Internet sites promote sex tourism in
Costa Rica.
Fortunately, all that is beginning to change,
largely because of pressure from Washington. Since
the United States first passed a law against human
trafficking in 2000, an unusual alliance of
religious groups, including conservative
evangelicals, and liberal women's and human rights
organizations has pressed for more action.
Evangelical groups were partly responsible for
President Bush's strong statement at the United
Nations on human trafficking. They also won the
appointment of John Miller, a former congressman
from Washington State, as an adviser on human
trafficking to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The Bush administration deserves credit for its
tough stance. Its efforts in Eastern Europe and Asia
in particular improved law enforcement and helped
women freed from captors. But Washington has yet to
give as much attention to Latin America.
That needs to change if sex traders are to
understand that their free ride in our backyard is
over.
2004-01-14
Peddling
Pedophilia?
Gay men into young teenage boys are finding help with Caribbean vacation
plans from a South Florida gay magazine.
HotSpots magazine, based in Fort Lauderdale and distributed throughout South
Florida, has accepted advertising from Costa Rica Taboo Vacations, a travel
agency that promotes trips to Costa Rica, complete with locals to have sex
with, of any age down to 14, according to the agency’s Web site.
“The flight was great, the hotel was great, and I did feel safe having my
sexual companion delivered to my hotel room,” says one of the Web site’s
testimonials from a satisfied customer named Shawn from Miami.
Costa Rica Taboo Vacations did not respond to interview requests by press
time.
HotSpots publisher Jason Bell is under fire from an enraged Ft. Lauderdale
activist who thinks the ads in HotSpots! propagate a negative stereotype of
gay men as pedophiles.
“We’ve all had to deal with the ‘gay people are pedophiles’ myth all our
lives, and this just reinforces negative and inaccurate stereotypes,” said
Joseph Misceli, a Fort Lauderdale resident who said he contacted HotSpots, a
gay Florida newspaper, to complain about the ad.
Misceli said he filed a complaint with the FBI, but the agency is not
actively investigating the company, according to Judy Orihela, an FBI
special agent in Miami.
Bell defended his magazine’s decision to run the ad, claiming that the Costa
Rica Taboo Vacations only claims to offer “tour guides,” not sexual
companions.
“If having a tour guide in another country is legal, then running their ad
in any of my publications is not illegal in the U.S.,” said Bell, who
publishes a separate magazine by the same name in Atlanta.
Ads for Taboo Vacations stopped appearing in the Florida HotSpots last month
after being published for a year, Bell said. Taboo ads did not appear in the
Atlanta version of the magazine, he said.
The only place on the travel agency’s Web site that makes reference to
sexual acts occurring between customers and Costa Rican “companions” is in
the testimonial section from satisfied customers.
“You won’t find a more willing companion anywhere,” the Web site says.
But Bell contends that testimonials from previous customers are fictional
accounts created to entice new customers, not true tales. He declined
further comment.
One testimonial praised the sexual appetite and deference of the “boys”
provided by Costa Rica Taboo Vacations.
“Not only were the accommodations comfortable, but the boys that were
provided were insatiable,” says Kevin from Newark, N.J. “They were willing
to do most anything, especially for an extra tip. Next time, I’ll bring
Viagra!!!”
Part of the travel agency’s Web site is a “confidential information form”
for clients to check off their preferences of gender and age. Age preference
categories include: under 14 years of age, 14-15, 16-17, 18 and above.
The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, which seeks to increase
business among gay and lesbian travelers, would most likely not extend
membership in its Association to Costa Rica Taboo Vacations, said Robert
Wilson, executive director of IGLTA.
“Obviously it is not a very professional operation and we have a desire that
members operate professionally as we do,” Wilson said.
Other IGLTA members do extensive business in Costa Rica, and could be harmed
by the Taboo Vacations if Costa Ricans became apprised of the
agency’s services because the country is “conservative and very
religious,” Wilson said.
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