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prostitution affects tourism in sosua
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Plus the statistics of who frequents destinations based on the sentiment of the wealthy(or otherwise) Dominicans?
My husband has four married brothers in Santo Domingo. They travel within DR and the USA. In DR, they go to Constanza, Jarabacoa, Casa de Campo, Punta Cana, and Las Terrenas for weekends away. To Salinas in Bani for the day. They are not the 1%.
I’ve been in this family for 42+ years, no one we know, cousins, friends, etc, have gone to Sosúa except us. We’ve gone for parties, for dogs, for friends (foreigners, my friends, not his).
The only Dominican I know who used to go to Sosua is a sleazy neighbor who used to go there to “work”. Her husband stayed home with the kids.
Before you say it’s because they live in SD, let me add that none of them would be caught dead in Boca Chica either. One cousin keeps his boat at the yacht club, so he and his wife do go there.
I’ve been in this family for 42+ years, no one we know, cousins, friends, etc, have gone to Sosúa except us. We’ve gone for parties, for dogs, for friends (foreigners, my friends, not his).
The only Dominican I know who used to go to Sosua is a sleazy neighbor who used to go there to “work”. Her husband stayed home with the kids.
Before you say it’s because they live in SD, let me add that none of them would be caught dead in Boca Chica either. One cousin keeps his boat at the yacht club, so he and his wife do go there.
Not to worry - the Ho's in Sosua do not get to read any of it. After all, you've admitted to like Sosua for the virtues of it?
My wife doesn't either. She's from the capital but we met in Europe where she was studying.
She did learn to kind of like it though, especially the beach, the laid back restaurants and how close by everything is.
In Santo Domingo everything takes hours due to traffic.
Sosua does have a bad reputation, but the funny thing is last year we rented a villa in Sosua Ocean village and invited her aunt for a weekend. This is a very catholic lady who travels with her church group to the US, Europa, South America.
We went to dinner on Pedro Clisante a few times and even though she had heard about Sosua's reputation, she said it wasn't all that bad at all. Yes, there were hookers but they didnt bother anyone who didn't want to be bothered.
I had expected more of a reaction of horror from this lady like my mother in law had the first time she visited and saw all the working girls.
It lacks validity when you state your opinion is also 100% of everyone else's, when everyone knows its clearly not
Exactly, my Girlfriend is from Santo Domingo, but she doesn't look down on it, why would she? What happens in Sosua doesn't affect someone, for example, who lives in Mao. Does it affect their job? No. Does it affect there hobbies? No. Does it affect their family? No. And as you stated JD, when I am with my girlfriend, the working girls don't eyeball me or approach me, and they just continue on their way, so, not sure how it's "So bad".
Well, I think we and everyone else all know about the reputation of Sosua, no need to deny it, hence all the crackdown etc..
But be a bit realistic, I hazard a guess that there more prostitutes in SD or Santiago or even PP than Sosua, but those are big cities and girls are operating hidden away, out of sight and out of mind.
Here we have a small few hundred meters of PC with 30 or 40 chicas running around in your face with mongers walking up and down interacting with them. There is hardly anything else in town, all this is concentrated in a small area and stands out, quite annoying to those not interested in all this. There is not much else going on, some restaurants and bars here and there, but fairly quite and empty.
Why not make that few hundred meters a red light district, like every other town in the world, no girl or monger go out of that area (or else behaves properly or be fined/locked up - I mean both parties, same in UK or everywhere else, johns are fined/lucked up for soliciting like prostitutes), no hanky panky outside that area, no girly bars/dicos allowed outside that area, and develop the rest of the town for folks to enjoy, build and they come.....
Anybody complains about that can avoid this area and protect their innocence ... ! lol
But be a bit realistic, I hazard a guess that there more prostitutes in SD or Santiago or even PP than Sosua, but those are big cities and girls are operating hidden away, out of sight and out of mind.
Here we have a small few hundred meters of PC with 30 or 40 chicas running around in your face with mongers walking up and down interacting with them. There is hardly anything else in town, all this is concentrated in a small area and stands out, quite annoying to those not interested in all this. There is not much else going on, some restaurants and bars here and there, but fairly quite and empty.
Why not make that few hundred meters a red light district, like every other town in the world, no girl or monger go out of that area (or else behaves properly or be fined/locked up - I mean both parties, same in UK or everywhere else, johns are fined/lucked up for soliciting like prostitutes), no hanky panky outside that area, no girly bars/dicos allowed outside that area, and develop the rest of the town for folks to enjoy, build and they come.....
Anybody complains about that can avoid this area and protect their innocence ... ! lol
A red light district really makes the most sense, however, even though prostitution is legal, it seems the gov is trying to squash it completely.
I think you're completely missing the point. The government is not trying to stop prostitution. They are trying to stop ORGANISED prostitution, including pimping, and trying to stop human trafficking. They closed the bars as there was evidence of payment of Salidas - the girls were having to pay the bar when they left - and also because there were a lot of non-Dominicans there who may have been trafficked.
I imagine 90% of prostitutes hook up with customers online these days. There isn't a need for a red-light district because anyone looking for girls can find one very quickly online.
Getting close to the actual point, I see. Legal or not. The want to squash the outward appearances. Push it under the rug, which could mean to the Internet making one on one connections between customer and service provider. It is impossible to stop completely since prohibition even where illegal, never works. Just like with illegal drugs, the sausage effect applies.
That's why they closed the Bermuda bar on the corner? Hermann was collecting salidas?
The actual point, as stated as the title of the thread is, prostitution affects tourism in sosua. The crux of it is "how", exactly... As you have stated, as many others have, that since it's legal, the gov basically has a wolf by the tail. The idea of the red light district basically cages the wolf and allows it to exist peacefully without bother to anyone.
Using an ounce of common sense, which seems to be rare, would be that they create the district, require the girls to have a license ($ for the gov), get tested on a "somewhat regular basis" , which would be a requirement to obtain said license. Now, a 2nd part to the situation raises an interesting dichotomy, i.e. to have "bawdy houses" where said transactions take place. For an entity other than the "working girl" to benefit is pimping, as we have read about many times in the shake downs. So should a bawdy house be a requirement, and the girls HAVE TO pay another entity in order to "ply their trade", for all intent and purpose, that would make the government a pimp.
so many nicer beaches than infested Sosua beach.its . I rather swim in a septic tank...
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I disagree. A cute, clean village by the sea with tourist amenities would draw investment...IF it wasn't considered a sex tourist haven. That's what Sosua used to be when I first visited in 1987.
I have an opportunity to buy an oceanfront condo for a song and a dance but cannot pull the trigger because the long-term future of Sosua looks grim under current circumstances.
This was really funny, in fact in Germany prostitutes are all legal and registered and pay taxes, I guess governments have no problem in profiteering from the oldest profession but nobody else is allowed.... lol
My wife's extended family approaches 60 for annual family reunions, and since she is already in the travel industry volunteers to be then family "arranger" for these reunions, all of which are in the DR.
In the 14 years she's been doing this since we've been together, not once has *any* family member suggested Sosua for the family gatherings. Then seem to everywhere except Sosua. There is an unspoken opinion that Sosua would never be considered...because of the reputation.
Gringos like Sosua and defend the reputation. The vast majority of Dominicans do and will not.
Playing Devils advocate, your answer makes the most sense, its just funny how they shake down people for "pimping" for profiting from the working girls, but simply, isn't the gov in the capacity you mention, doing the same thing?
So you want it to happen, as long as its someone else doing it then? It's like people who complain about garbage in the streets, but will never bend over and pick up a piece...
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