Zona Norte (Tijuana)

Zona Norte ("North Zone") is a red light district located in Tijuana, Mexico. It is known for prostitution and illicit drug sales. Due to its proximity to San Diego, California, it is frequented by US citizens as well as locals. The district is also known La Coahuila for the name of the primary avenue that runs through it.

Prostitution

Prostitution is permitted in Tijuana's North Zone, designated a "Zona de tolerancia", or "tolerance zone". Legal prostitution within the city requires sex workers to obtain a permit and be subjected to monthly health checkups. cite news |title= From the street to discreet
url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20041011-9999-1m11move.html
publisher= San Diego Union-Tribune | first= Anna |last=Cearley |date= October 11, 2004] Brothels in Tijuana must also conform to certain health regulations, such as standards of cleanliness, fixed operating hours and be placed a regulated distance from schools or day-care centers.cite news|title=Tijuana tries to make prostitution safer|url=http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special03/articles/0915TijuanaProstitution15-ON.html|publisher=The Arizona Republic|date=September 15, 2005]

Prostitutes, who like most working individuals, choose their trade for a variety of purposes: some simply love the money & the easy hours, others find this is the easiest way to support a drug habit, some find prostitution is the easiest way to pay for their college books/tuition, while there are others who are single mothers, who have marginal job skills and have turned to prostitution in order to support their families. Some fathom that because of a failed border crossing, "these and other single mothers end up in Tijuana" [sic] hooking.

seeking a more permissive environment for their trade.

Child prostitution

Prostitution of children is a problem in Tijuana's Zona Norte, both in the form of voluntary acts as well as illegal child trafficking. Voluntary prostitution by children, often referred to as "survival sex" in order to obtain a warm meal or a place to sleep for the night is prevalent in the area. Often these children are smuggled across the border into San Diego and other nearby areas.cite web|url=http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2006/04/115450.shtml|title=Trafficking in Children|forst=Manolo|last=Guillén|date=March 05, 2006|publisher=The San Diego Independent Media Center]

Child trafficking into Tijuana for the sex industry is also problematic. Children are often brought in from various parts of the country, often from the poorer southern states such as Tlaxcala and Oaxaca. Many of the young girls are employed in an unofficial and illegal manner in undocumented brothels disguised as massage parlors, bars and nightclubs. Such child prostitutes are generally between the ages of 14 and 17.

Michael Hemmingson's ethnographic study, "Zona Norte: The Post-Structural Body of Erotic Dancers and Sex Workers in Tijuana, San Diego, and Los Angeles", [http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/ZONA-NORTE--The-Post-Structural-Body-of-Erotic-Dancers-and-Sex-Workers-in-Tijuana--San-Diego-and-Los1-4438-0010-4.htm] found that many of these girls lie about their age, saying they are 19-22, and do not work the streets, but special brothels. The study suggests much of trafficking claims are exaggerated by organizations with political, moral, and religious agendas.

Young boys are also often recruited as prostitutes, sometimes as early as age 8. This forced prostitution tends to cater more to pedophiles from the United States.cite web|url=http://www.oas.org/atip/country%20specific/AZAOLA%20Mexico%20Child%20Sex%20Exploitation.pdf|format = PDF|date=June 2000|title=Boy and Girl Victims of Sexual Exploitation in Mexico|publisher=UNICEF|first=Elena|last=Azaola]

Drugs

Illicit drug sales are prevalent in Zona Norte, and consequently there is a significant police presence here.cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25035686_ITM|title=U.S.-Mexico bridge proposal draws mixed reviews|date=February 04, 2002|publisher=San Diego Business Journal]

References