www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Copied from Jo Stuart's column in AM Costa Rica:



Does this mean the official estimate for number of female sex workers in Costa Rica exceeds 8,000?

My very rough guesses.... at any one time:

KL/DR=1,000 ?? full and part time
MP's=600 ?? full and part time (60 venues with average 10 girls each?)
Internet=100 ??
Jaco= 400 ?? full time
Strip Clubs=400 ??

What am I missing? Where are the other 5,500?

How many mongers are here full time? 500? How many part time on an given week? 1,000?

What is the average income per girl in DR/KL?, MP?, Strip Club?

I am no mathemitician........ but the numbers aren't working.

Allow me to wade fearlessly in...

In other articles I have read, the estimated number of sex workers was around 7000, as I recall. The first thing that comes to mind is that the 4000 figure for foreigners is bogus. I believe that figure came from the person in charge of some high publicity 'crack down' and was about as scientific as creationism.

As far as actual numbers go, in addition to your numbers I would add that it has been said that there are 102 MPs/pensions in San Jose, and walking around town I constantly bump into places I had no idea existed. But your number may not be far off the mark there. There are also quite a few independents that work other bars in and outside the gulch. And we also have a large number of streetwalkers, many in areas seldom seen by gringos. Add in the transvestites to that figure, and escort agencies, and then add in gay prostitutes. I can see it easily hitting 7000. I think the main misleading sound bite was the idea that there are 4000 foreigners working here. In Jaco there may be a higher pct. but in San Jose I would guess it's about a third, maybe even less once you get beyond the Del Rey. But then... I JUST MIGHT BE MISTAKEN!

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

You can not base any estimates on numbers derived from observations in the gulch.

I knew a guy who had a "party house" in Escazu. He had literally the phone numbers of over 100 girls who would call him looking for work or he could call when he set up a party. They live in Desamparados, Hatillo and Pavas and most of them never set foot in gringo gulch.

My point is that there are ticas all over the country who play for pay on a part time basis and fly under the radar. An accurate account, is in my opinion, is impossible.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

The embassy website says they're all "trafficked women". Where do they get this shit??!!

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The sexiest part of the human body? The brain.

647

I dont care how many there are overall, as long as there's enough when I'm in town. Which luckily, has always been the case.

I am with you, sort of. I think the numbers are exaggerated.

What? Ticos exaggerate? Go figure.

That said, there are 2 million Ticos in Costa Rica and a fair percentage of them are banging the bottom out of puta too. Why do you think they keep it legal, not for us I can assure you that!

The sex tourism venues are for tourist. Ticos have their own outlets.

To echo what Phantom says, don't underestimate the number of Ticos using prostitutes. Go to Calle 6 or the Dungeon on a payday and you'll see the boys lined up around the block.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

It depends on the price.

Offer $1,000 and you may be looking at 500,000 working girls.

Wow, you guys seem to really underestimate the non-gringo sex work...

Also, are we counting Tibas, Desampa, Azzeri, Sabanilla in SJ territory?

If we are, then that 8000 is a low estimate...

Do we include the xmas ho's? do we include the birthday ho's? Do we include the "end of the month and I can't pay rent" ho's?

If we include all these, plus all the tranny's, the gays, the "just doing it b/c I'm a little short this month" girls, then that number probably goes way beyond the 10k mark...

Reach out to Heredia, Alajuela, and other surrounding towns, and we're probably talking about 11k.

And, as sunshine says, offer 1k, and you MAY VERY WELL be looking at 500k workers...

You cant really say that though. For enough money, most everybody , anywhere, will be a sex worker. For instance, if someone offered you $100 bucks to blow a guy, no way you'd do it. What if that number jumped to 10 million? You probably would. 100 million? You couldnt wait to go down on a guy for that much money.

So, I wouldnt go by how much money you offer, I'd go by the number of girls that consistently sell themselves for money.

I'm glad to see that CRT guys have straightened out this scientific survey of the number or working chicas available,one way or another here in Costa Rica. I can PERSONALLY verify that the previous number of 5000 was an underestimate. I hope that the 8000 figure is more accurate since then I would have more new ones availble.

It's a number that can only be guessed at. To set the number the first thing you would have to do is to fix exactly what a prostitute is. On the broad end of the spectrum you could define it as a woman who has offered sex for money that would set the number at approximately one million assuming there are 2 million people in Costa Rica and one half of them were female. Reasoning being just about every woman on the planet has exchanged money for sex at one time in her life.

On the other end of the spectrum would be a woman who for the majority of her adult working life derived 100% for her income from prostitution. That number would be insignificant. That is unless you include the little homemaker who got married at 18 and is never done anything other than be a faithful wife and live off her man's paycheck. Then that number might be a little more significant. That would move you into the area of defining just exactly what a John was.

The point being it is just not a number you can set. To stray a little from the subject of how many prostitutes are in country to what effect price would have on the number. Again you would have to look at the spectrum. At $1000 an hour there would be a significant decrease in the number of working girls because they would be a very dramatic decrease in the number of men seeking their services. At $10 an hour they would be a significant decrease in the number of working girls because of the reduced incentive.

The model that I have always worked with looking at these numbers verifies that the potential $100 an hour is the magic number that keeps new working girls moving in to the market and provides a stable supply of potential customers for those girls. In short there is an excellent market functioning in Costa Rica so don't f--k with it.

As always just my humble opinion.

Lee

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PS: DO NOT SEND MONEY!

It doesn't matter what the real number is, cause I can get laid thrice daily in CR and almost never at home. Nuff said!

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

The only addition I would make to Brother Lee's excellent exposition would be on the definition of a prostitute. A prostitute to me is a woman or man who accepts money OR NON-CASH COMPENSATION for having sex with men (plural--else she's a mistress or some other category of monogamy). Sorry if this is a Chicken-sh*t amendment.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED