Mayor of Medellín, Colombia, bans prostitution in neighborhoods which might be fashionable with vacationers

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The mayor of Colombia’s second-largest metropolis banned prostitution in a number of the metropolis’s most well-known neighborhoods for six months Monday, arguing it was needed to stop the sexual exploitation of kids.

Medellín’s Mayor Federico Gutiérrez mentioned the ban will probably be enforced in Provenza and El Poblado, two neighborhoods teeming with stylish bars and golf equipment and frequented by 1000’s of vacationers.

The neighborhoods have also become popular with sex workers who stroll the streets searching for worldwide purchasers. Gutiérrez mentioned prison networks are taking minors to those districts and forcing them into intercourse work.

“We’ve got to recuperate the management of this space,” Gutiérrez mentioned at a information convention. “Additionally it is crucial for us to guard the neighborhood.”

Intercourse work is authorized in Colombia if it includes consenting adults. However native governments can ban this exercise quickly from components of cities, whether it is deemed a menace to public order.

The Medellín prostitution ban comes simply days after an American man was present in a resort room with two native women aged 12 and 13, in a case extensively lined by native media.

The 36-year-old was held in police custody for 12 hours, then launched whereas officers investigated the case. Native media reported that he left Colombia and went to Florida.

Throughout Monday’s information convention, Gutiérrez urged Colombian authorities to hurry up the investigation.

“It’s unhappy to see how many individuals imagine they will come to Medellín and do no matter they need,” he mentioned.

Intercourse work has grown in Medellín as town of three million individuals turns into more and more fashionable with vacationers, who head to Medellín for its balmy climate, reasonably priced costs and festive ambiance.

Whereas some vacationers meet intercourse staff straight within the metropolis’s streets, others are assembly them by way of courting apps and a few of these encounters have turned violent.

In January, the State Division issued a security alert on the dangers of utilizing courting apps in Medellín, after eight Individuals have been killed there within the prior two months.

The alert mentioned criminals have been utilizing courting apps to lure guests to inns, eating places and bars the place they have been drugged, kidnapped or robbed.

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