Businesses and Hotel owners in Costa Rica are now being accused of discrimination as many have taken the step to ban prostiution and related activities on their premises. Prostitution is legal in Cpsta Rica, and therefore people, especially sex workers are calling for these hotels to be prosecuted as they are only doing their job, as any other person does theirs.

So are these hotels right to ban prostitues and their activities from their hotels?? Some hotel owners see no reason as to why they shouldnt be allowed to ban these activities, as they are currently allowed to ban other activities such as smoking, excessive noise at night and large events which could disturb the peice of the hotel. However, there have been cases of mistaken identity, with women being accused of being a prostitute due to wearing a lot of makeup, or wearing the wrong clothing. Afterall, spotting who is a prostitute and who is legitimatly there as a guest is not always easy, as one example proves when a girl was accused of being a prostitute and refused entry, when she was in fact the daughter of the man she was with.

It is not hard to see why prostitution is such a popular profession in Costa Rica, as sex workers who operate in tourist areas, throwing themselves at rich tourists can easily make a very substantial living, which in many cases has been recorded as being more than many lawyers, bankers and even President Oscar Arias!

In theory what these businesses are doing by trying to eliminate prostitution from their premises is all well and fine, even though they are losing alot of money as a result, up to 10% was recorded by one hotel. But in practice it is very difficult to identify prostitutes. Until a system is put into place which will allow hotel receptionists to actively identify guests and prostitues, they should not be allowed to refuse them entry in my opinion. At the end of the day they are not breaking any laws, they are providing the hotels with alot of business, so why ban them in the first place!!

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