Tijuana Prostitution Laws

[Samm(:]

Yes Burt, we are talking about the same stuff.
I agree 100% on your Tijuana opinion. I have seen Municipio de Tijuana Reglamento de Bando de Gobierno y Policia as you put in your first post.
I was just stressing that there is no federal law nor state law that prohibits prostitution, so the buck is passed to the Municipios, in this case Municipio de Tijuana.
BUT, please ask your lawyer friend about what is not legal and what is legal in Mexico. I have already disussed this with 2 lawyers friends, one a federal one in Mexico city and a penal attorney here in the State of Nuevo Leon.
Both told me that, if the Municipio says that it is a fineable misdemeanor, technicaly it is not legal.
Meanwhile soliciting is not permited outside La Zona. if it isn't permited it isn't legal. Ask your lawyer friend why is it that the American tourist are warned against this.
That can be read in this link.

http://www.tijuana.gob.mx/turismo/TouristGuide/English/pag6.asp

Prostitution to be legal, so it could be an activity that could carry no consquence as a fine or jail time or whatever, it should show in the Codigo Civil del Estado de Baja California Norte and it doesn't.
When it is totally legal, the police will not be able to hassel prostitutes nor the customers, nor haul them to jail under the slightest pretext.

 

[Gio]

Perhaps we are saying the same thing or that I missed something. But
prostitution per se is not just tolerated but actually legal in Tijuana.

Let me stress that I'm only talk about Tijuana. The Municipios is muncipal law and, or course, is different in every city. Prostitution is illegal in many places in Mexico. (It is a misdomenear, but the fine is usually low by US standards.)

Any city (or even state in Mexico) can outlaw prostitution. Thus far, however, while public manifestation of prostituion is illegal in Tijuana, prostitution pre se is not.

Remember I'm talking about Tijuana muncilpal law--not the law in other cities. I wish I had a link to post (like I did about Rx laws) but I don't. My information comes from an attorney in Tijuana who I've found competent in other matters.

 

[LabradorLover17]

Yes Burt, you are right.
But local law says on the spot that prostitution is not legal the moment they do not allow it.
Like you are saying, prostitution is no defined as illegal on a federal concept of law, so that per se (quoting you) passes the buck down to the Municipios.
In Mexico prostitution is considered by the Municipios as a mesdemeanor fineable to up to 350 pesos for the hooker and up to 450 for the customer (depending on the Mexican city).
Read this article too:

http://www.fiscalstudy.com/2005-global-photo/0319-prostitution-in-mexico.php

Prostitution is not legal but tolerated. Tolerated means that you are permiting something that in this case, is not legal.
That also means that one day the authorities can and might do, erradicate prostitution as a whole, like in the USA.
They have done it three times in my lifetime here in the my city of Monterrey and all cases it has backfired on the authorities, both local and state.

 

[mat l]

There are no national Mexican laws regarding prostitution. Prostitution is governed by local law. Here is how it works in Tijuana.

There is no law outlawing prostitution per se. There are, however, many laws governing prostitution.
--A health card is required for a woman to engage in prostitution. (She has to worry, but you don't, if she lacks a health card.)
--Public manifestation of prostitution is illegal. That is something like solicitation in the US. Outside a Zone of Tolerace, a girl can’t stand on the street corner waiting for customers and you can’t offer a woman money in public for sex.
--Sex in public and public nudity are illegal. So don’t do it on the beach, in a car, etc.
--Pimping and pandering are illegal. The guys who walk around asking if you want to go to a massage parlor are breaking the law. (They can and do go to jail.) A business—like a strip club—can place employees on the sidewalk to invite customers to enter their establishment. However, the employees must be stationery, not ambulatory.
--You can’t run a house of prostitution. Notice that massage parlors charge you for the room. (They’ll claim they don’t know/aren’t responsible for what the girl does instead of cutting your hair.) That is also why you take a girl out of the bar to a nearby hotel.
--Within a Zone of Tolerance some law aren’t enforced. This is especially true of laws forbidding public manifestations of prostitution. That is why the girls can line the streets in the Zona Norte asking you if you want to go to the room.
--The age of consent is 18. It is a violation of the corruption of minors act (a felony) if she is under age—no matter what she told you. Yes, guys go to jail all the time for breaking this law.

So it’s a bit of a Catch 22. Neither the man or to woman are allowed to solicit outside a Zone of Tolerance. A prostitute and her customer aren’t supposed to be seen together in public. But once they get behind closed doors it is legal for a man to pay a woman for sex.

Outside the Zona Norte corrupt cops will occasionally try to get a payoff if they see you enter a hotel with a prostitute. As long as both of you claim your friends there is nothing to worry about. If one of you “caves” then worry.