When traveling to some foreign countries, it may surprise Americans to learn that prostitution is entirely legal in many places around the world , including Peru.
Travelers should be wary of mingling with unregistered prostitutes as they do not carry a health certification. To try to curtail the rising rates of human trafficking and exploitation, the Peruvian government outlawed pimping proxenetismo in Pimping is punishable by three to six years in prison while the pimping of a person under the age of 18 is punishable by five to 12 years in prison. The safest option for sex tourists of Peru is to go through a legally-operating venue such as a licensed brothel or hotel.
However, these venues are also subject to police inspections, raids, and potential closures for breaking certain laws, including the use of foreign prostitutes illegally in Peru; illegal brothels are common, especially in Peru's major cities. Very few street prostitutes operate legally, but police officials often turn a blind eye to illegal prostitution, whether it involves an unlicensed brothel or streetwalking.
Both male and female prostitutes use advertisements—placed in public spaces or posted in newspapers or online—to promote their services. If the guest is interested, arrangements can be made for the prostitute to visit the hotel room. Child prostitution and human trafficking are the darkest and most tragic aspects of prostitution in Peru, and both are unfortunately all too common.
Human trafficking is tied to both adult and child prostitution. Traffickers lure increasing numbers of adult and underage women into prostitution, many from poor jungle regions of Peru. These women are often promised other types of work, only to arrive in a city far from home where they are then forced into prostitution. This is one way of fighting back against child sex tourism. If a hotel or motel is found to have children there for purposes of prostitution, for example, they could have their tourism license immediately revoked.
