Sex, Internet and the DR

I thought this might be of interest. The full story can be found on "Wired" on the website mentioned below. If all the details are true, it is a sad thing.

Regards,
Susanne

The Web, Where 'Pimps' Roam Free
By Julia Scheeres

2:00 a.m. July 7, 2001 PDT

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic -- A slow tourist season has hurt the T-shirt and coconut milk vendors in this scenic beach town, but it hasn't put a dent in the body business.

Evidence of the sex trade is everywhere as men in shorts and sandals duck into rent-by-the-hour "love motels" with Dominican women in bright dresses.

More, among other things including ghastly statistics on HIV/Aids in the DR, on: http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0%2C1272%2C44888%2C00.html

Thanks for that, Susanne. Stories like that make me sad and mad at the same time. It's a good thing "Wired" caters to the more savvy, technical types, one hopes would rather get their hands on a titanium chip than take advantage of some poor underage muchachita.

Bad link

The link for the mentioned TSM-site in "Wired" is bad. The real link is http://www.tsmtravel.com.

I do not give this to encourage exploiting women but to give the possibility to verify some of the information in the article.

Regards,
Susanne

Susane, this is not a free site, they entice with an article then they give you a link, when you get there they want you to subscribe to so called archive for a fee. This use to be free info on The World Sex Guide. But its been discontinue. Do you know another site on this subject that is free. It seem nowdays everything on the net is for a fee. Hopefully access to this forum won't be for a fee any time soon.

Sorry, I don't. I jumped through using the "Guest" button. You won't get it all but there are certainly a VERY large number of references to the DR.

Regards,
Susanne

HIV Education

Having HIV / AIDS Support Councelling & Education Training, does anyone out there know who to contact in the DR to find out what sort of programs there are available to become involved with.

Re: Bad link

The article is mostly fabrication (lies).

Re: Bad link

Judging from the websites mentioned unfortunately quite a bit is true. Of course I am aware that there will be a lot of bragging (Eager girls? That just goes to prove that you are really attractive) and wishful thinking among those reports of the availability of willing women in the DR.

But there are a LOT of reports on those sites. And my general experience with Wired is that they are quite credible and thorough.

I would, however, have liked some more names and fewer anonymous sources. "A hairdresser" could be anybody.

The fact remains, though, that the DR is being promoted as a sex tourism destination on some very busy internet sites.

Regards,
Susanne

Re: The Truth

Nope. The report is mostly fabrication.

See all the false statements:

Article: "A slow tourist season has hurt the T-shirt and coconut milk vendors in this scenic beach town, but it hasn't put a dent in the body business. "

Truth: Slow tourist season affects the body business, big time.

Article: "Indeed, the Dominican Republic is one of the biggest sex tourism destinations in the world, thanks in part to Internet sites that extol the country as a "single man's paradise."

Truth: It is not. It isn't even in the top 10.

Article: "But [Puerto Plata] has a dark side: The area's thriving commercial sex industry has given it one of the highest HIV rates of any region in the country, according to the World Bank."

Truth: The World Bank does not provide HIV statistics by region within the country. The estimated HIV rate in the DR for the year 2000 was about 0.6% (50,000 carriers out of 8,000,000 people - see http://www.paho.org/english/HIA1998/DominicanRepublic.pdf, page 5). According to http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat/aids/aic04-99/aid99es4.html, the AIDS rate as of 1998 in the DR was 0.05% or 50 out of every 100,000 people. This is 1/5 the rate in the United States.

Article: "Today, men looking for local action can choose from customized love vacations that include room, board, 20 alcohol drinks a day and the company of one or more local women. "

Truth: Love vacations are not new, not unique to the Dominican Republic, are are available right in the USA. I don't see the point. This type of offer in the DR is very rare.

Article: "Plug "adult travel" into a search engine and you'll find dozens of membership-based sites where men around the world swap information on prostitutes, brothels and the price of oral sex in Brazil or Cuba."

Truth: Yes, there are sex boards where members swap photos and stories. This is not DR related, as the DR would be a tiny fraction of these reports.

Article: "The guys running these sites are pimps."

Truth: Totally false. None of the sites mentioned partipates in, profits by, or facilitates their members meeting prostitutes.

Article: "In the Dominican Republic, as in many developing countries, many women are driven to sell their bodies by poverty and lack of alternatives. It is a profession that is illegal but tolerated by local authorities, who accept kickbacks to turn a blind eye to the seedier side of tourism. "

Truth: It is not illegal.

Article: "Its reputation for cheap and easy sex has given the Caribbean the second-highest AIDS rate in the world after sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank"

Truth: The AIDS rate in the Dominican Republic as of 1998 was 0.05% (50 out of 100,000 people), with only 4000 cases reported in a country of over 8 million people. See http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat/aids/aic04-99/aid99es4.html. The AIDS rate in the DR is less than 1/10th that of Zimbabwe, 1/20th of the rate in the Bahamas, and less than Switzerland, Spain, and 1/5 that of the United States.

Article: "In some areas of the Dominican Republic, HIV infection rates among prostitutes top 12 percent, according to local activist groups. "

Truth: Where's the data to back up this outrageous claim? Good reporters don't print unsubstantiated hear-say.

The DR is being promoted as a sex destination. So are many other countries x 10, including Germany, The Netherlands, Brazil, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cuba, Switzerland, ... In other words, there is no point.

HIV rate

A practicing dominican doctor friend has told my wife that her town has an infection rate of cost to 50%.

the town is not particularly large and is not a tourist spot...

Is this realistic?

Re: HIV rate

I would love to see the figures to back this up.

This sounds more like "I heard it from a guy in a bar" statistics.

Rob.

Re: The Truth

I was very interested to read Jim Hinsch's response to the WIRED article on DR sex tourism. I'm not quite sure how long Jim has lived in the DR or been in contact with Dominican culture, but he has quickly learned one of our (I am Domincan) most complex psychological traits. That is that we Dominicans have a tough time accepting criticism and feel that anything that puts us in a bad light abroad needs to be dismissed as untrue or the machinations of some enemy force that wants to discredit the nation. The media, and particularly the foreign media, is often the target of our discontent. Well, unfortunately, this only serves to ignore the reality that is put before us. If we deny that the problem exists then we simply don't have to deal with. In this case, Jim seems to be looking at some sort of alternative reality if he truly feels that the DR is not regarded as a sex tourism destination and that HIV infection levels are not worrisome. As a frequent business traveler to many world destinations, I can tell you that when I identify myself as Dominican more often that not the comments that I elicit about the country are either about baseball, merengue music or sex tourism. Also, there are many places that upstanding Dominicans will not frequent in places like Boca Chica, Sosua, Puerto Plata, etc. for fear of being taken for a prostitute. Furthermore, male prostitution is just as prevalent as female prostitution, giving rise to an entire subculture known as "sanky panky" with its own code words, fashion, etc. I agree that not all tourists that go to the DR go there seeking sex, but one must also admit that sex is easily found and on offer at most tourism locations, including bars, beaches and even shops. Yes, and it often involves minors of both sexes. Prostitution in the DR has been amply documented not only in short pieces such as the one in WIRED, but has also been the subject of various important studies by highly-regarded sociological research institutions. One also only need to read the local press to discover frequent accounts of prostitution rings. Do we ignore it or do we instead have the courage to face the reality and do something about it? Jim would likely propose the first option. I'm sure that he is well-intentioned and I'm proud that he would defend the country so vehemently, but Jim there are just certain times when you have to wake up and smell the coffee. A reality check would do you good.

Re: The Truth

Santiago, it seems to me that as a world traveller you have chosen to ignore the prostitution problem in the countries you have visited, if you feel that ours is an unique situation.
We do not have any more prostitution than other nations. This is a worldwide phenomenon. For as many TSM and World Sex Archives sites you can find about Dominican Republic, you can find 100 times as many for United States prostitution and likewise in Europe. There are unlimited free sites showing thousands of different women in overt sex acts in all categories, including pregnant, 70 years old women and obese women that look like circus acts in web sites of the United States. Most of these women are prostitutes and drug addicts.

For instance, Porncity Thumbnail Gallery, JJJs Thumbnail Gallery, Schemps and more than 100 sites related to this group will give you everything you need in terms of sex. However, it would be much more difficult to find Dominican sites like this.

The version that a town in DR has a 50% infection rate would have called world attention. A rate of this magnitude can only be found in the very worst African situation. What is the towns name?

While Susanne has brought to our attention something related to DR, which is always good to know, you could have changed the name of the country leaving the same information, and it would probably fit any country in the world, except you would have to leave out the sunny, white sand beaches and warm weather.

Re: The Truth

First, prostitution is not a _problem_ just by the mere fact that it exists. That is a moral judgement and not mine to make.

Here's the reality for you. The vast majority of travelers to the Dominican Republic are not there to have sex with the locals. It does happen, but the numbers are insignificant compared to other destinations such as the ones I mentioned in my other post. So the reality: It exists, the numbers are small, it isn't a problem.

Sex with minors is an unrelated issue. Every town has it's scandals. Why the media dwells on the child prostitution thing is beyond me. Why not dwell on the murders, the drug busts, the muggings, the corruption, or ... I don't deny it exists. But I deny it exists in any scale more significant than anywhere else except in the minds of a few reporters.

More reality for you. I did not fabricate HIV statistics or produce hear-say. I quoted the numbers that the World Bank gives. Look at the numbers and form your own opinion. When I look, I see the DR as 5 times safer than the USA when it comes to HIV/AIDS. Thus, I find it irritating when the DR is portrayed as something it isn't.

More Reality: The women from the Capital that do not want to go to Boca Chica because:

1. The media sensationalized and lied repeatedly about child prostitution in the tourist towns, a problem that for the most part, doesn't exist.

2. They fear being ARRESTED. The Police, in their misguided attempt to respond to the media criticisms, are known to arrest anybody Dominican, without evidence of any crime. That is a POLICE problem.

Finally, that there are people that feel they are too upstanding to be seen in Boca Chica proves only that not everybody has the same taste. I know people in New Jersey that won't go over to Manhattan (and vice-versa). So?

Now, when a reporter (and this is not the only one to do it) tries to portray a town like Puerto Plata as a major sex destination, when the reality is that 95% or more of the travelers are NOT visiting for that reason and Puerto Plata doesn't even make the LIST of top sex tourist destinations, when HIV/AIDS statistics are presented to make them seem high when in fact they are low compared to the industrialized western world, I call it fabrication. I call a duck a duck.

Re: The Truth

Boca Chica and Puerto Plata doesn't have nothing in way of night life but bars and discos.That's a perfect atmosphere for prostitution. If you had a cultural center with theater etc, perhaps this places will not be in the net as a sex destination.Beside the beach during the day there is absolutly nothing to do besides eating in some of those overprice Italian restaurant and hitting the bars and the discos.

Re: Being arrested in Boca Chica

Jim it is true that the upper crust Dominicans will not be caught dead in Boca Chica. Mostly low class Dominican frequent Boca Chica, and yes the police has the missguided notion that every woman thats is accompanied by a foreigner is a hooker?? And thats the fear of an respectable refined Dominican woman. I was there recently during one of their beer fiestas and the people there was young loud, low class and "plebe".

Re: I wouldn't be caught dead ...

You have it backwards.

If a local is with a foreigner, they will NOT get arrested.

It is the ones that are NOT with foreigners that get randomly and routinely arrested without cause.

There are many people that don't care for various places. It means nothing. I wouldn't be caught dead at a Merengue festival, and I'm a wealthy, educated foreigner. Does that reflect on the festivals? No. They just aren't my thing.

There are many upper-crust Dominicans that won't go to Boca Chica, and plenty that do - I see their yachts parked all up and down the bay on weekends, from one end to the other. I will grant you that for the most part, it is a working-class town.

Mostly middle-class Dominicans go to Boca Chica (because they live or work nearby). Don't you know what constitutes "middle-class" in the Dominican Republic? Do you consider 95% of the country to be "low-class"?

Re: The Truth

Upper class Dominicans dont go to Boca Chica because they lost the public waterfront to development. Most areas of Boca Chica used to be privately owned by the rich, then they sold out for high prices and moved on to more private quarters. Thats how Casa de Campo and now Punta Cana are the in places.

The other problem, and I have mentioned it here many times to Onions and Carrots dislike, is that as long as Boca Chica keeps all those obnoxious vendors, the upper class is not going back. These people do not like to be bothered when sunning.

Re: I wouldn't be caught dead ...

Jim I will clarify my statement . I meant that if a local woman was accompanied by a foreigner automaticaly the police will conclude she is a hooker. Because Dominican men automaticaly thinks the reason that woman is with a "gringo" it's for the money.And NO she won't be arrested as oppose to a woman being by herself Boca Chica on raid night , because she being with a tourist they are not going to bite the hand that feeds them, like a tourist filing complaints, its not good for business.

Re: The Truth

That's the point. For every mention of the DR as a sex destination, I can point you to 10 mentions of Mexico, Thailand, Philipines, Columbia, Cambodia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, ..., and the USA. In fact, there are several other Caribbean islands that have legal and public brothels and red-light districts.

We've got a few public and legal brothels right here in the USA. Does that make the USA a major sex destination? The USA has got some of the best looking girls in the world working the business. It is a big draw for those that can afford the $2000-5000 a night call girls.

In my opinion, that makes any mention of the DR as a MAJOR sex destination either ignorant or fabricated.

Remember, I don't deny that prostitution exists, and in pretty high concentrations in some areas at some times. I deny that it is any greater than in parts of most any other country, and in fact, note that it is LESS than the other places (mentioned earlier). So who is to blame for all this bad press, and the blind-leading-the-blind in media coverage?