After listening to a man from New York complain about the number of prostitutes in a local hotel (a hotel specifically famous for just that), I just had to respond…

For the week of the Republican convention few years back, the New York Daily News quoted an escort service owner who commented that; “We have girls coming from London, Seattle, California, all coming in for that week… It’s the week that everyone wants to work.”

This is a time where fine, upstanding (?) politicians, respected public servants (50,000 are expected) will meet to discuss “a program that will reflect the Republican Party’s leadership, diversity and commitment to the American people.” (This link has since been deleted)

Yes! Like New York City (which has 50+ pages of escort service listings in the telephone book) and every other major city, Costa Rica has prostitutes or maybe we should call them ‘escorts’ too?

Although pimping is strictly illegal, prostitution is legal in Costa Rica and yes! There are establishments that one can visit for companionship. Prostitution anywhere is a dark business that most of us know little about but the US media always likes to remind us how bad the situation is in Costa Rica – the evils of “sex tourism” – don’t you love to study hypocrisy? The “false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion” …

Your Voice Is Missing From This Conversation!
Please give us your opinion at the bottom of this article.

“A 2001 University of Pennsylvania study estimates the number of prostituted American children at between 200,000 to 300,000 annually.” And, “There are approximately 20,000 homeless youth in New York City”, says Carol Smolenski, executive director of the Brooklyn-based nonprofit, ECPAT USA, (End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking). The group’s surveys show that “one-third of homeless youths exchange sex for money in New York City,” she added.

New York is also the home of the author Andrew Vachss whom Oprah Winfrey refers to as a “warrior for children,” who is an attorney and author of dozens of truly horrific books dedicated to a single purpose – protecting children from sexual abuse.

I do not mean to trivialize the problem or, even insult prostitutes in Costa Rica but, talk about the pot calling the kettle black eh? And, what exactly was he doing in that hotel anyway?

A friend of mine who is a discrete security consultant and who’s business regularly takes him into many of the brothels in Costa Rica to meet with and occasionally guard his clients tells me that visitors need to be extra careful in the brothels here.

He has visited many of the brothels in San Jose to check security prior to visiting them with his clients, he found all of them to be seriously lacking and, one of them in particular – a very popular location – had the worst hotel security he has ever seen.

There have unfortunately been a number of cases reported privately where visitors from the US get off the plane all wide eyed and excited (no pun intended) about visiting certain locations where they can buy “companionship” only to end up being drugged after being aggressively encouraged to drink way too much – by the bartender and the prostitute – and then, taken to the rooms by the “companion” and having their wallets emptied.

Since most of the victims seem to be unaware of exactly what happened, some experts believe the prostitutes are using “ruffies” – the date rape drug – to incapacitate the men and the drug also helps them to forget what happened. Needless to say there are a few men who shouldn’t be in there anyway and will be reluctant to report these events to the authorities.

Please remember that for some of these hotels, the goal of the security staff is to keep the girls safe – they really don’t give damn about you!

Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1: How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, 2: Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and 3. ¿Cómo Comprar Bienes Raíces en Costa Rica, Sin Perder Su Camisa?

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.