The Ministry of Tourism and other government institutions are implementing a pilot program in Boca Chica, a tourist area half an hour’s distance from Santo Domingo, in an effort to erradicate the prostitution of children by visitors. The program is known as "Strategy for the Prevention and Care of Children and Teenagers Victims of Prostitution in Tourism Areas." The authorities determined that it was worthless to close down whorehouses if the problem of child prostitution was not combatted at the root and alternative occupations found for the victims, deputy minister of Tourism, Henry Pimentel, told Luchy Placencia of Ultima Hora in a recent interview. He explained that the immediate goal of the plan is to incorporate 25 teenagers in the Boca Chica area into a training program under the Instituto de Formación Técnico Profesional, Infotep, and 40 others into the vocational schools of the Armed Forces. The government funded school for artisans, Cenadarte is also installing an extension in Boca Chica to train young Dominicans in the art of making handicrafts. Furthermore, institutions such as the Dirección General de Promoción de la Mujer are giving open workshops on Law 2497 on violence in the home. And Unicef, the United Nations division that works for the welfare of children, will be installing in Boca Chica a children’s and teenager center to assist victims of sex tourism. These efforts are complemented with the closing of whorehouses, persecution of promoters of sex tourism, especially where minors are involved, and the creation of a system of institutional cooperation to prevent and counteract its occurrrence. Participating also in these efforts are community groups, neighborhood associations and the regional and national association of hotels. Teresa Rojas, director of the Organismo Rector del Sistema de Protección de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes, a government organization that seeks to protect children and teenagers, said that more than 25,455 minors have been victims of the sex tourism, out of a population of 3,233,000 persons under age 18.
