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By: Elias Flores Gallegos, Attorney
In recent days we heard a very socially relevant case in which a girl of just 18 years old, was recruiting other young women to provide sexual services, apparently since she was a minor. This person was the intermediary between the customer and the provider of sexual services, benefiting its brokerage in this business or “The Pimpstress”.
The case has caused social unrest, as it is a young girl who apparently directed and ran a prostitution ring that involved mostly middle school and high school students.
Article 267 of the Criminal Code in the State of Baja California establishes the offense of Pandering, which states that is punishable with imprisonment from 2 to 10 years whoever exploits the body of another person through sexual intercourse and gets benefit from it. Interestingly State Criminal Code recognizes the offense of Pandering as an act of trade, even though it is illegal.
Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world, even the Bible itself refers to it, so it is not a subject to scare us, but a subject to worry and we must take as a society.
The most recurring reason for a young person to resort to prostitution as a means of survival, is economic necessity, this is the common denominator in all cases. Which does not justify in any way the punitive done.
As a society we must also be aware, that this is an issue of lack of values and family problems, usually it is young people with broken families and lack of childcare the ones involved, but we’re also responsible as a state, since these young people lack decent work opportunities for them to move forward with their education, their family and their own welfare.
We must not lose sight that it is an offense, which is sanctioned by our laws with imprisonment for up to 10 years.
The solution is not simple, however, prevention is the best alternative that exists at the moment, as long as there is economic necessity for many young people, there will be the supply of such services, and unfortunately, the demand for them.
Elias Flores Gallegos, Attorney at Law, current President at FLORES GALLEGOS ABOGADOS Law Firm, S.C., in Mexicali, graduate of the Autonomous University of Baja California, with an L.L.M. in International Corporate Law from the University of Guadalajara, currently litigator specializing in the areas of civil, commercial, corporate, criminal, agricultural, family, administrative law, among other areas, with over 25 years of experience. He has contributed academically as a la law professor at UABC and Cetys University, he was awarded Attorney of the Year in 2009 by the INC in Mexico.
