Online people trafficking - since when...?

Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
113
So the DR authorities are not only going after physical establishments, they are going after online portals as well. The most actual event concerns a case in Bávaro with escort service site operated out of Cocotal villa by a Spanish national. I just cannot come to understand how operating an online site where escorts get paid directly by the customer and then most likely pay a commission base do services ordered, can be considered trafficking people...
http://bavarodigital.net/2018/07/31...panol-acusado-de-proxenetismo-en-res-cocotal/

I would say it this way, if this is pimping then Uber definitely is a taxi company.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
I can easily see why this is considered pimping by the powers that be. There can be no other interaction other than directly between the woman and her John. An escort service is not going to be allowed to handle that transaction regardless of the medium involved. That commission paid to the service is THE problem, just like the fee a hooker pays to a brothel.


Someone tried to do the same thing in the development were I live about 2 years ago. They were also shut down. Can't be done legally.

By the way, The EU has ruled that UBER is indeed a taxi company.
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
0
So the DR authorities are not only going after physical establishments, they are going after online portals as well. The most actual event concerns a case in Bávaro with escort service site operated out of Cocotal villa by a Spanish national. I just cannot come to understand how operating an online site where escorts get paid directly by the customer and then most likely pay a commission base do services ordered, can be considered trafficking people...
http://bavarodigital.net/2018/07/31...panol-acusado-de-proxenetismo-en-res-cocotal/

I would say it this way, if this is pimping then Uber definitely is a taxi company.

prostitution is as old as time in the DR, and places like Manolo's, and Pablitos, and Casa Teresa's , and Herminias, were normal fixtures of the landscape in the bygone days. you would go to any of them and find the scions of industry, and the wealthiest of Dominican businessmen, and nobody bothered them. it was when foreigners came in and started to profiteer from prostitution that things got sticky...
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
I just cannot come to understand how operating an online site where escorts get paid directly by the customer and then most likely pay a commission base do services ordered, can be considered trafficking people...

this is considered people trafficking, law 137-03.

Art. 1.- Para los fines de la presente ley, se entenderá por:

a) Trata de Personas: La captación, el transporte, el traslado, la acogida o la recepción de personas, recurriendo a la amenaza, a la fuerza, a la coacción, al rapto, al fraude, al engaño, alabuso de poder, o situaciones de vulnerabilidad o a la concesión o recepción de pagos o beneficios para obtener el consentimiento de una persona que tenga autoridad sobre otra, con fines de explotación, para que ejerza cualquier forma de explotación sexual, pornografía, servidumbre por deudas, trabajos o servicios forzados, matrimonio servil, adopción irregular, esclavitud y/o prácticas análogas a ésta, o a la extracción de órganos;

b) Niño: Toda persona desde su nacimiento hasta los 12 años, inclusive;

c) Adolescente: Toda persona desde 13 años hasta la mayoría de edad: 18 años;

d) Turismo sexual: Actividad turística que incluye cualquier explotación sexual;

e) Ofertas sexuales: La publicación, utilización o facilitación del correo, medios de comunicación, prensa, televisión, redes globales de información, internet, comunicación digital;


https://www.oas.org/dil/esp/Ley N° ... y Trata de Personas Republica Dominicana.pdf

also: http://pgr.gob.do/pett/
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
this is considered people trafficking, law 137-03.

Art. 1.- Para los fines de la presente ley, se entenderá por:

a) Trata de Personas: La captación, el transporte, el traslado, la acogida o la recepción de personas, recurriendo a la amenaza, a la fuerza, a la coacción, al rapto, al fraude, al engaño, alabuso de poder, o situaciones de vulnerabilidad o a la concesión o recepción de pagos o beneficios para obtener el consentimiento de una persona que tenga autoridad sobre otra, con fines de explotación, para que ejerza cualquier forma de explotación sexual, pornografía, servidumbre por deudas, trabajos o servicios forzados, matrimonio servil, adopción irregular, esclavitud y/o prácticas análogas a ésta, o a la extracción de órganos;

b) Niño: Toda persona desde su nacimiento hasta los 12 años, inclusive;

c) Adolescente: Toda persona desde 13 años hasta la mayoría de edad: 18 años;

d) Turismo sexual: Actividad turística que incluye cualquier explotación sexual;

e) Ofertas sexuales: La publicación, utilización o facilitación del correo, medios de comunicación, prensa, televisión, redes globales de información, internet, comunicación digital;


https://www.oas.org/dil/esp/Ley N° ... y Trata de Personas Republica Dominicana.pdf

also: http://pgr.gob.do/pett/
Seems that laws are in place, but like so many others they have been selectively enforced.

Is a new wave of crack-downs in motion?
 

USA DOC

Bronze
Feb 20, 2016
3,162
757
113
Seems that laws are in place, but like so many others they have been selectively enforced.

Is a new wave of crack-downs in motion?

...probably only enforced on the ones that are not paying the right people.......
 

CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
11,717
7,977
113
prostitution is as old as time in the DR, and places like Manolo's, and Pablitos, and Casa Teresa's , and Herminias, were normal fixtures of the landscape in the bygone days. you would go to any of them and find the scions of industry, and the wealthiest of Dominican businessmen, and nobody bothered them. it was when foreigners came in and started to profiteer from prostitution that things got sticky...

Do gooder government sponsored NGO's which are sometimes ran
by overweight feminist are the eyes and ears for the international
lenders like the IMF and other regional influences who DO NOT LIKE
westerners traveling to exotic countries for p*ssy.
Sex trafficking does exist but take a look at the timelines regarding
loans vs. crackdowns and you may find a correlation between the two.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
Seems that laws are in place, but like so many others they have been selectively enforced.
Is a new wave of crack-downs in motion?

more like a new wave of policing, i guess. PGR has different departments, dealing with different crimes. PEDATEC (procuraduría especializada contra los crímenes y delitos de alta tecnología) cooperates with other departments in terms of dealing with online criminal activity. it's still a relatively young project but it is gaining ground. hence tracking "digital prostitution", so to speak.
 
Feb 7, 2007
8,005
625
113
What exactly do Chinese investments have to do with online escorts? Or do Chinese push on foreign governments to eliminate that kind of business? So maybe their own triades can take over?
 

chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
12,573
6,328
113
prostitution is as old as time in the DR, and places like Manolo's, and Pablitos, and Casa Teresa's , and Herminias, were normal fixtures of the landscape in the bygone days. you would go to any of them and find the scions of industry, and the wealthiest of Dominican businessmen, and nobody bothered them. it was when foreigners came in and started to profiteer from prostitution that things got sticky...

Nice play on words in that last sentence - congers up some unpleasant / unsanitary images
 

cbmitch9

Bronze
Nov 3, 2010
845
8
18
What exactly do Chinese investments have to do with online escorts? Or do Chinese push on foreign governments to eliminate that kind of business? So maybe their own triades can take over?

Maybe is not exactly the Chinese but maybe more to do with the IMF? Just my guess.
 

CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
11,717
7,977
113
Maybe is not exactly the Chinese but maybe more to do with the IMF? Just my guess.

Two things I've seen have a major impact on prostitution in
developing countries where prostitution has existed openly
for many years.
1. NGO's
2. Chinese investment.
 

CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
11,717
7,977
113
And the response has to include how it affects DR. :)


The Communist Party in China has long portrayed prostitution as a form of exploitation.

The penalties are harsh. Sex workers and their clients can be fined and locked up without
trial for up to 15 days. Prostitutes caught repeatedly can be sent, also without trial, to
“custody and education” centres, a type of jail where they can be held for up to two years.
Pimps can be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.

Its been my experience with Chinese investment comes the Chinese way of thinking (control)
and the Communist Party's opinions for better or worse can, will and do have a major impact
on what they deem as acceptable or unacceptable social behaviour in public establishments.

In order for Dominican politicians to appease these Chinese investors a.k.a. Santa Claus on
a scale these crooks have never seen before.....

I'm not saying the potential for massive Chinese investment is the main reason for the recent
clean up attempts, there are other factors at play like NGO's who sometimes act as the eyes
and ears for international lenders like the IMF.

I will say this, it would not surprise me at all if after 5 years places like Sosua Beach or Boca Chica
are snatched up by some large Chinese firm and the place is completely transformed from a hooker happy monger land to something that looks more like office complex / hotel with big fountains and glossy windows.

I've watched it happen in other parts of the world and to think it could not or would not happen
here in the Dominican Republic would be very naive.

NOTE: This response might be better suited for another thread which has
garnered more attention regarding prostitution lately, however, I think yall get the point.
 
Last edited: