Sosua police action against working girls...

Berzin

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Nov 17, 2004
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Apparently someone had stated that this action was initiated by the AIs. This seems to be strange. First of all, AIs for the most part do not let working girls in to their hotels. The smaller hotels let them in and out with no problems, but the percentage of men who go on vacations to solicit this type of action is very small. So why do the AIs care about this?

Most AIs in Sosua that I have noticed are more family oriented so any single traveller who wants to mingle with native dominicans for whatever reason are'nt really going to appreciate the sequestered atmosphere of an AI. I know

I would'nt and that's why I steer clear of them.
So why are the girls, who from my experience are pretty well-behaved in Sosua, being harrassed? This makes no sense on a few fronts-

1)90% of vacationers stay at AIs according to what I have read-so why do the AIs care about working girls who are'nt even allowed on their premises?

2)Why would the police charge so much money to let the girls out? 1500 pesos is I am sure alot more than the average girl can come up with-unless she is out WORKING!!!!

3)If the police are so corrupt, why are they chasing a population that cannot pat their way out of jail? How about the drug dealers? Why won't they after them?

Sorry, I'm just angry. Had to vent.
 

Tor

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Jan 1, 2002
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Isaid on the other thread, it was just a ruomer, and I didn't know. But what is said is that they have got complaint's from customers that has been unwanted approched by girls on the street. Some of theese girls also are good pick pockers, so many tourists has been robbed.
The problem is that the police don't go mainly after theese girls, but taking in every girl they see out at night.
 

Eddy

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Tor said:
Isaid on the other thread, it was just a ruomer, and I didn't know. But what is said is that they have got complaint's from customers that has been unwanted approched by girls on the street. Some of theese girls also are good pick pockers, so many tourists has been robbed.
The problem is that the police don't go mainly after theese girls, but taking in every girl they see out at night.
Wow 1500 that's 3 times what it used to be. 90% of the girls on the streets at 1:00 to ?? AM are hookers. A big % are theives. No decent Dominican girls would be alone on the streets at that hour. I usually drive my barmaids to the "Wawa" stop after work. On a couple of occasions, when they walked alone on the street they were approached by the police. They told them in a nice way where they worked and went on their way. No big deal.
 

jrzyguy

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May 5, 2004
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Tor said:
Isaid on the other thread, it was just a ruomer, and I didn't know. But what is said is that they have got complaint's from customers that has been unwanted approched by girls on the street. Some of theese girls also are good pick pockers, so many tourists has been robbed.
The problem is that the police don't go mainly after theese girls, but taking in every girl they see out at night.

Its been happening in boca chica.....so i am not surprised it is happening in sosua.

When does guilliani run for president in the DR and sell the country over totaly to disney? just make it one big theme park!!!!

I DO underdstand wanting to clean things up a bit....i remember really getting pissed off at a hooker grabbing at me last year.....

In my ignorant gringo opinion.....i think things will sorta stabalize (kinda like the peso vs the dollar). I hope that clubs open back up.....and i am sure the working girls and guys will return.....but perhaps with just not so much openess and gusto.
 

Stephan

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Tor said:
Isaid on the other thread, it was just a ruomer, and I didn't know. But what is said is that they have got complaint's from customers that has been unwanted approched by girls on the street. Some of theese girls also are good pick pockers, so many tourists has been robbed.
The problem is that the police don't go mainly after theese girls, but taking in every girl they see out at night.

Got grabbed several times at PEDRO CLISANTE, SOSUA, early evening. In one case it was developing in a sort of wrestling, I was glad that a armed guard went in between, I am not sure how the whole thing would have gone without him.I was pretty concerned what would have happened if I had no other choice than applying physical force in order to get rid of her.
No win-win situation I guess :confused:
 

La Gata

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They Are Annoying

And many people when they come here for vacation are scared to go out at night because of avances. I knew a divorced man who came on vacation with his 28 year old daughter and they went out to a bar one night and the man was swarmed and his daughter was appauled and they will Never again return to sosua!!

Put em in jail! Prostitution is illegal!
 

Tor

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Prostitution is NOT illegal. Harrasment and pick pocketing is illegal. If the police wanted they could take out the bad girls, and leave the rest alone.
I have my ideas about why the situation is almost the opposite.
 
Oct 13, 2003
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CabareteCid said:
I was always told that it was illegal!!! Well, then I will stick to the theft and harrassment issue, lock em up!!

Prostitution is not illegal in the DR... just look around on the internet..

I agree with the harassment it was getting worse.. like Boca Chica...my first Dr trip I went to Boca chica.. on the internet the laguna seemed soo nice.. it was but I still left the place after 2 days because of the constant harassment by working girls..

From what I've seen and heard though, I get the impression that the police is only in it for the bucks.. they arrest girls who are working and who have money.. then make them pay a fine or perform a sexual service to be released again.. only to harass the tourist again with more desperation because they need money for whatever.. do not be fooled into thinking that the police is there for your benefit on this issue.. (if ever).. look after your own.. the police are just looking to get their share
 

SosuaJoe

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about time

Greetings all!

Been lurking around the forum for quite some time, but never felt compelled to post. Hope no one minds if I sound off on this topic.

There's been a large movement on the part of the business community to finally get something done with regards to the prostitution issue in Sosua and Cabarete.

Basically, it comes down to deciding what sort of a tourist destination we want for Sosua and then taking the steps necessary to move in that direction. Aside from the few bars who live off prostitution, in whose interest is it to have such an open, flagrant prostitution business as recently existed in Sosua?

The ai's do care, because whatever affects the destination affects us. Aside from the moral obligation a business has to confront problems affecting our community, if my guests can't walk the streets without being accosted (or approached, if you prefer) by prostitutes, they won't walk the streets. Restaurants and pubs complain that ai is killing the town, but the truth is quite simple: our guests eat and drink for free at my resort -- it's an expense for me to have them consume on-site. I would therefore much prefer they go elsewhere to dine, drink and party. But if all they see on their way to a restaurant or bar is prostitution, what image will they take back home with them?

More importantly, the reputation that Sosua has (and Cabarete will have if they're not careful) is extremely damaging to the economy. It cheapens the destination, therefore driving down prices and occupancy. There was a time when there were many, many more hotels in town than there are now, and all of them full to the rafters. You couldn't throw a rock in this town without hitting a nightclub, and they were all rocking. Then the prostitution took over. Fine, one can argue that prostitution was not the only reason the town slowed down, but no one can argue that it wasn't a contributing factor.

Sex tourism is a miniscule part of the whole tourism market, but where sex tourism is dominent (or even prevalent), other sorts of tourism die. A simple example: Two people visit a destination. One likes prostitution, one doesn't. When they get home, the one who doesn't go in for open prostitution tells all his friends not to come, as it's so infested with it. The one who likes this sort of prostitution goes home and tells all his friends to go for the cheap prostitution heaven. What happens after a few years of this?

It is also well-known that sex tourism is an extremely cheap tourism (even relatively speaking). Why would we cater to that when we can have a much more lucritive and abundant market?

Ask around the business community about what prostitution has done and is doing to the town, and what benefits we would enjoy if we could control and reduce it. Ask a real estate agent what it would do for the value of properties and businesses. Ask a hotelier (one who doesn't allow prostitutes, of course) or a restauranteur. Or anyone who deals with tourism for that matter.

Better yet, as the parents of the kids who go to school at the Hess academy on Pedro Clisante what they think of that street and what's going on just steps from where their children go to school.

No one is saying that prostitution can be eliminated, but if we don't get serious about controlling it, we won't have much of a town left. And the prostitutes? They'll just move on to Cabarete, or Bayahibe, or Samana or wherever.

I understand that occasionally someone who isn't a prostitute might get picked up in a 'redada'. That's unfortunate and I can understand their frustration. But even the most indignant innocent person has to admit that better a very few get inconvenienced than that we allow the situation to continue unchecked. I dare say that losing one's job because there isn't enough tourism (or enough of the right kind of tourism) to sustain your wage would be the much larger inconvenience, and that inconvenience has been much more widespread these last years. How much better off would the town of Sosua be today had the authorities (not just the police) gotten serious years ago with the prostitution problem?

In every tourist destination in the world there exists prostitution. The difference is that most destinations control the problem. Go to Amsterdam, famous for the redlight district -- you can walk the streets two blocks away without being accosted. Even Bankok is cracking down on the sex trade these past five years. Are we to be the only ones in the world to allow working girls to walk the street simply because we don't want our police to ruffle feathers?

Apologies if I've gone on, but it's not as simple as some people would like to think -- that the police are just out to make a few thousand pesos. The police, finally, are doing their part (or at least part of their part) to confront a problem with serious social and economic ramifications. I for one support their recent efforts, distasteful as many might find them, and hope this is indicative of a change in the thinking of those in decision-making positions.
 

Justintime

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Bravo Joe

Thanks for sharing your thoughtful, professional and community-minded perspective.
 
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Larry

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Stephan said:
Got grabbed several times at PEDRO CLISANTE, SOSUA, early evening. In one case it was developing in a sort of wrestling, I was glad that a armed guard went in between, I am not sure how the whole thing would have gone without him.I was pretty concerned what would have happened if I had no other choice than applying physical force in order to get rid of her.
No win-win situation I guess :confused:

The reason they " grabbed" you as you say is because they were looking to pickpocket you. Whenever a girl comes up to you on the street and puts her hands on you, whether it is in a nice way or a more forceful way, it is because she is feeling for your wallet and will either touch you in a sensual way or grab your arm or whatever in an effort to distract you and mask what she is actually doing.


The next time a girl does this, grab her and shove her away. Don't worry if the police happen to roll up on you. Just tell them the girl is trying to rob you and they will lock her up. You wont be in trouble.

If you shove the girl away and she comes back at you, grab her and tell her you are taking her to the police station. She will see you are no fool and will run off as soon as you let her go.

Larry
 

Larry

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Mar 22, 2002
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Larry said:
The reason they " grabbed" you as you say is because they were looking to pickpocket you. Whenever a girl comes up to you on the street and puts her hands on you, whether it is in a nice way or a more forceful way, it is because she is feeling for your wallet and will either touch you in a sensual way or grab your arm or whatever in an effort to distract you and mask what she is actually doing.


The next time a girl does this, grab her and shove her away. Don't worry if the police happen to roll up on you. Just tell them the girl is trying to rob you and they will lock her up. You wont be in trouble.

If you shove the girl away and she comes back at you, grab her and tell her you are taking her to the police station. She will see you are no fool and will run off as soon as you let her go.

Larry

edited to add: I forgot to say that when you push her away, immediately look at her hands to make sure she didnt take anything and check your wallet/moneyroll. Some of these girls are super fast.
 

MrMike

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Mar 2, 2003
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Sosua Joe,

Your post was very informative, but ethically speaking, do you think it's excusable for the Sosua/Cabarete business community to take advantage of corruptible law enforcement agencies and "encourage" them to hassle law-abiding sex-workers just because they are bad for your business?

Do you not recognise that it is corruption that is the root cause of the DR not being more attractive for tourism and not prostitution which is probably more of a symptom?

I understand that the band-aid slapped on the situation will probably be helpful in the short term, but it essentially amounts to law-abiding citizens bieng hassled by police and falsely encarcerated. In the long term, this is a much greater deterrent to family oriented tourism than the sex trade could ever be.

Could it really be that hard to get some legitimate city wide ordinances enacted banning solicitation within city limits or confining it to a red-light district so that future police action would at least be be legal? ("legal police action" is an oxymoron for the DR, I know)
 

bo-44

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Feb 13, 2005
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The good old days

There was much more prostitution in 1995/96, Sosua was booming, tourists came mostly from europe, not many US/Canada vistors. Then came the Leonel goverment for the first time and shutted down most of the bars and clubs. Someone renember Oxy?, Copacabana? I had some shares in those businesses. When they were starting to close down the bars in Sosua and putting the girls to jail, the coronel allowed us to stay open, because we paid him some good cash every month, but after some time the local radio station was asking its listeners how could it be possible that our businesses are still working, so the coronel told us to close, if not he could get serious problems. And yes, there was much more prostitution in town and at the beach these days. What you see now is nothing compared whith 1995/96/97. After the police action, the better girls fled out of the town and only the thrash/UHB left over. At this point tourism started to decline and Sosua became boring UHB town, many former residents left. Sometimes i really miss those days where everything was out of control, everyone had a lot of fun, even the streets had no tarmac. And note-crime rate was much lower.
 

Jimmydr

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SosuaJoe said:
Greetings all!


Basically, it comes down to deciding what sort of a tourist destination we want for Sosua and then taking the steps necessary to move in that direction. Aside from the few bars who live off prostitution, in whose interest is it to have such an open, flagrant prostitution business as recently existed in Sosua?

Its been going on here for decades really. Sosua and Caberete are night and day. If you hit Caberete off season, the are many rooms available while Sosua is becoming a year round destination.
 
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Jimmydr

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bo-44 said:
There was much more prostitution in 1995/96, Sosua was booming, tourists came mostly from europe, not many US/Canada vistors. Then came the Leonel goverment for the first time and shutted down most of the bars and clubs. Someone renember Oxy?, Copacabana? I had some shares in those businesses. When they were starting to close down the bars in Sosua and putting the girls to jail, the coronel allowed us to stay open, because we paid him some good cash every month, but after some time the local radio station was asking its listeners how could it be possible that our businesses are still working, so the coronel told us to close, if not he could get serious problems. And yes, there was much more prostitution in town and at the beach these days. What you see now is nothing compared whith 1995/96/97. After the police action, the better girls fled out of the town and only the thrash/UHB left over. At this point tourism started to decline and Sosua became boring UHB town, many former residents left. Sometimes i really miss those days where everything was out of control, everyone had a lot of fun, even the streets had no tarmac. And note-crime rate was much lower.

Whoremongers travel 6-8 times a year and spend all their cash in town while families rarely ever spend more than $100 in the towns outside the A.Is.
 

Jimmydr

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Berzin said:
2)Why would the police charge so much money to let the girls out? 1500 pesos is I am sure alot more than the average girl can come up with-unless she is out WORKING!!!!


There are many working girls that make about 14,000 - 21,000 pesos a week. A 1,500 fine is really nothing.
 

MISTER NYC

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Feb 25, 2005
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Who's really to blame?

Every time I go I see more and more of "us" on the streets of Sosua than the "couple" type or "families". I blame 90% of the prostitution trade on these business owners who pay next to nothing to there employees and who clearly have no interest in the local people and rather focus on the money making end of it... there right I guess, but there business decisions do have consequences. What's a chica to do? Work 9-5 Monday thru Saturday and make 3,000-4,000 pesos a month while there electric bill and rent alone is close to or more than 5,000 pesos? There is food, transportation, and then some left to pay for every month.

I have little to no respect for most of the business owners down there. Most of them don't do a damn thing to improve the economic and/or social crisis at hand.

Just my 2 pesos worth...