Prostitution in Costa Rica - Child Prostitution

Child Prostitution

Costa Rica is a destination for child sex tourism, numerous children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation at the hands of tourists. Erika Linares, a lawyer with the Latin American Institute for Health Prevention, a group that works with prostitutes, said: "Sexual tourists look for two things: impunity and anonymity. Costa Rica offers both." Nevertheless, most of the demand for child prostitution comes from local Costa Rican men; it is a home-grown problem.

Child prostitution is widespread. Street children in the urban areas of San José, Limon, and Puntarenas are particularly at risk. Costa Rica is a transit and destination point for minors and women trafficked most often for commercial sexual exploitation. Most trafficking victims originate from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Since 2004 the government and the tourism industry have implemented several initiatives to curb child prostitution, including education campaigns among tourist industry workers to report any ilicit activity regarding minors. Anyone convicted of buying sex from a minor can suffer prison terms of up to 10 years are establish.

Despite attempts by Costa Rican authorities to improve the situation in Costa Rica, their efforts have had little to no effect. Such efforts were the Law Against Organized Crime in 2009, and the Law for Protection of Victims and Witnesses in 2010. Immigration and the District Attorney’s office assert that efforts thus far have been inadequate, as there have only been two human trafficking cases ending in a strict sentence since the passing of these laws. Lawmakers have since redoubled their efforts, unanimously approving the Law Against Human Trafficking, which would raise the maximum penalty of human trafficking to 16 years.