While Costa Rica is well known as one of the progenitors of eco-tourism, it is gaining notoriety for another tourist attraction: legalized prostitution. Thousands of visitors, mainly from North America, come to Costa Rica for lawful sex, without regard for the consequences among its victims. Many of those victims are children as young as 12, as evidenced by a recent Toronto Star article.
Groups of people routinely travel on chartered tours with a specific agenda: sex. The itineraries are arranged by gender preference and, most ludicrously, age, with a premium charge for young girls.
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While some might find wry humor in the claim that Costa Rica's national sport is making love, others may be horrified when they learn that love has nothing to do with a business that thrives upon child rape. Indeed, the country compares to Thailand in becoming a penalty-free haven for pedophiles. While it is suggested that legal prostitution reduces the incidence of rape and increases contraceptive use, the downside is that Costa Rican girls become sexually active at a very young age, often not by choice.
It is estimated that some 2,000 young girls service clients nightly in San Jose. The consequences? Perhaps a meager payment, but there are also unwanted pregnancies, diseases and enslavement. Customers, although not legally accountable for the horrors they inflict upon these girls, but they should be. The Costa Rican legal system pays little attention to the basic rights of preteens who are afraid to say "no" to potential customers or those who engage in wholesale rape.
Costa Rica claims to have initiated programs to reduce underage sex trafficking, but until there is a real reduction in this lurid segment of the world's oldest profession, the country should be ashamed.
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