Zona Norte (Tijuana) - Prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is permitted in Tijuana's North Zone, designated a Zona de tolerancia, or "tolerance zone". Legal prostitution within the city requires sex workers to obtain a permit and be subjected to monthly health checkups. Brothels in Tijuana, many of them modeled on strip bars and hostess clubs, must also conform to certain health regulations, such as standards of cleanliness, fixed operating hours and be placed a regulated distance from schools or day-care centers.

In addition to established brothels, there are prostitutes who work outside on the "callejones" or alleys and are referred to as paraditas, Spanish for "the standing girls", for the habit of standing on the streets to advertise their services. Paraditas have been regarded as part of Tijuana's cultural history, and attempts to force the women off the streets to curb such public advertising have proven unpopular and unsuccessful. These street workers are either illegal prostitutes who do not have permits, or legal prostitutes who simply prefer the relatively quiet environment of the street to the loud music and smoky atmosphere of the bars.