Consul concerned about
problems in sex industry
~ Dominican Republic authorities looking for local Club’s contact there ~
PHILIPSBURG--The Dominican Republic Consulate has expressed grave concerns about the problems it says continue to fester in the sex industry here and has pledged to hammer out solutions with club owners.
Consul General Doris Elsa Vasquez Martinez told reporters Sunday that the problems “exotic dancers” face had caught her attention since she took up her position here three years ago.
She plans to meet with representatives of the St. Maarten Gentleman’s Club Association - an association of brothel and adult entertainment centres owners who have organised themselves to regulate the industry - to see what solutions can be ironed out. The Consul General says she will meet with the Association since the Consulate may face a lot of red tape if it takes other routes.
Martinez said she also wanted to visit the clubs to get a first-hand view of what is happening in the sex and exotic dance industries. One of the first things the Consul plans to address is to determine whether any Dominican Republic “dancers” working at the brothels and adult entertainment establishments are under-aged. Dancers under the age of 18 will be “sent back” to the Dominican Republic. Those who are above age 18 will be asked whether they are working freely and not against their will. The Consul also wants to ensure that “dancers” are not staying beyond the three months they are allowed to work on the island, since they risk being deported if they do so.
She said the industry is in dire need of regulation and proposed that the Dominican Republic Government and the Central Government sit to see how best to address the problems of human trafficking and other sores in the sex industry here. “We know about the problems in the clubs but when we go to the police, they ask the women to file reports (against their employer) but the women are afraid to do so,” the Spanish-speaking Martinez said through an interpreter.
The Consul General’s statements about the sex industry came after the first in a three-part series on the commercial industry was published in Saturday’s issue of The Daily Herald’s WEEKEnder. The article highlighted the chilling story of three Dominican Republic “dancers” who ran away from a Dutch Quarter-based club by jumping through a window, six months into their employment.
The three women, who were brought from the Dominican Republic to work as dancers, were allegedly forced into prostitution after they arrived here. They claimed they had never been paid in the six months they had worked at the club and couldn’t leave the club as they pleased. They also alleged that the club owner, who has since been detained and is awaiting his day in court, demanded to have sexual intercourse with them. The Club in question has also been closed.
Martinez said she is aware of the case of the three women since they had sought help at the Consulate after fleeing the club. She said the Prosecutor’s Office and Women’s Desk were contacted about the situation and the Consulate was awaiting information on the progress of the investigations.
The Consul General said she didn’t provide any information to the media about the case previously because she was giving authorities time to investigate the matter.
She said however, that she has not yet received an update on the situation of the three women and was surprised to learn that they were sent back to the Dominican Republic with “no security” and without the monies they were owed.
She said the Consulate would have liked to have been told when the women were being sent back to the Dominican Republic since the Consulate had arranged for them to receive help from the anti-trafficking department in the Dominican Republic. Through this department, Martinez said, the women would have received much- needed counselling to help them get over their ordeal and would have received other assistance.
She said the Consulate learnt that arrangements would have been made to sell the assets of the Dutch Quarter-based club to pay the women the US $19,000 the club had owed them, but said this information had not been confirmed by authorities.
She said too that authorities in the Dominican Republic were currently looking for the club’s contact in the Spanish-speaking country in connection with alleged involvement in human trafficking.
Martinez said she understood that many women from the Dominican Republic were brought to St. Maarten to work in the exotic dance industry. She said the women were usually told that they would be working as dancers but when they arrived to the island, they are forced to work as prostitutes. She said too that while prostitution is not allowed at some Clubs, it still festers under the noses of authorities. “If the clubs break the rules of their licence they should be closed,” she said.
She said that authorities should conclude their investigation of murders of “exotic dancers” that have occurred in the past.
Regarding allegations that the passports of the “dancers,” are sometimes withheld, Martinez said the Consulate has always maintained that it is illegal to withhold the passports of anyone since this is a personal document. This newspaper understands that the process of withholding passports of dancers has been discontinued.
In the meantime, the second part of The Daily Herald’s three-part series on the sex industry in St. Maarten is scheduled to appear in this Saturday’s issue of WEEKEnder.
