Although prostitution is a completely legal profession in all Mexican states, the authorities in different regions take different approaches to regulating and managing the sex industry. Some places have created special government agencies and departments to monitor prostitutes, some have opened permanent legal brothels, and others have legalized all forms of individual prostitution. But the most interesting approach was taken by the authorities in Mazatlán, where, in order to reduce the number of street prostitutes and minimize illegal sex work, representatives of the oldest profession began to be invited to join the traffic police.
Mazatlán’s unusual plan to combat escorts
The authorities of the state of Sinaloa have come up with an unprecedented way to combat illegal prostitution: a unique federal program designed specifically to improve the living environment of the local population. As part of the new project, escorts in Mazatlán and other major resort towns in the region can voluntarily retrain—they are offered free training as patrol and traffic police officers with guaranteed employment. The unique program is still in the experimental stage, so it is only being implemented in large cities in the state, but if the results are positive, it may be expanded throughout Mexico.
One of the program coordinators working with prostitutes in Mazatlán is confident that the new employment project is a real way out for poor women who illegally provide sex services to earn a living. After all, it is an opportunity to give up a dangerous profession, break ties with the shadow industry, and radically change their lives for the better. However, even legally working sex workers can participate in the program—training and employment are available to all representatives of the oldest profession.
Another positive aspect of the new bill is that turning Mazatlán escorts into police officers will help reduce the constant shortage of personnel in the state’s traffic police. As a result, the department will receive a regular influx of new employees, and prostitutes will receive legal, respectable work and a stable salary that will help them get their lives back on track.
Individuals’ attitudes toward the new project
According to initial data from Bordelero, the opportunity to retrain as police officers has already been offered to more than 250 prostitutes in Mazatlán. Most of the women immediately agreed to participate in the experiment and showed excellent results during training. The first ten have already gone out on patrol as partners of more experienced police officers, and their results have also been excellent. According to the organizers of the rehabilitation program, if the girls continue to work so actively and efficiently, very soon many of them will be able to take up high positions in municipal departments, not only in the transport police, but also in other departments.
The girls themselves, who are already officially working under the new program, are very happy that they managed to quit illegal sex services in Mazatlán and move on to official positions. Now they can plan for the future, because their salaries are stable and regular, rather than dependent on luck. In addition, they are now respected members of society who are not ashamed to talk about their work with their families and friends, whereas before, when they worked in brothels, prostitutes hid from everyone.
Moreover, official work allows them to avoid many of the risks and dangers associated with the erotic profession. After all, while girls in legal brothels are protected and defended, illegal prostitutes may face persecution from both clients and representatives of criminal groups.