A Bogota official condemned “shameless” people taking advantage of the increase in visitors due to the U-20 World Cup to set up businesses offering the sexual services of minors, on Colombian radio station Radio Santa Fe Wednesday.
According to the director of the District Institute for Communal Participation and Action, Gloria Cuartas, there are many organizations on the margins of the law profiting from sex tourism which has seen an increase in the capital city as a result of the FIFA under 20 Soccer World Cup, the final being held August 20.
“I want to invite you to take a walk in [Bogota’s colonial central] La Candelaria to see the announcements on which they are looking for young girls to serve as sexual companions,” Cuartas said.
The official added that district authorities are moving forward with specific plans to avoid the trafficking of women in Bogota. She said that it was necessary to implement strategies in the city directed towards the eradication of these types of crimes and furthermore in the city there is a public policy aimed at protecting the rights of women and abolishing all forms of violence against women.
Cuartas added that in the city there are 16 Houses of Equal Opportunity for Women, in which they are offered free legal and psychological guidance and support for cultural activities, entrepreneurship and organization-building.
Colombia’s second largest city Medellin also complained that the U-20 World Cup, combined with other festive activities organizaed simultaneously, has caused a surge in child prostitution.
