Last Thursday, four friends and I boarded a Jet Blue flight bound for the Dominican Republic. It was a beautiful, sunny day in NYC and we couldn't wait to lay out on a hot, sandy beach in DR. Excited we were; our last trip together was in 2007 to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Upon landing, we gathered our bags, caught our hotel shuttle and headed towards the resort. I love island life and no matter what island I'm on, I always feel like I'm home. As we breezed through the local streets, passing numerous mopeds (some carrying up to FOUR people at a time), I relaxed and took in my new surroundings. The tropical breeze, sun, sand and shanty towns put me at ease, while at the same time easing my mind of all of the modern world's stresses.
Playa Grande
During our second night in Puerto Plata, we decided to check out downtown Sosua for the bar/club scene. We dressed our best and had the hotel schedule a cab to pick us up. Ten minutes later we were on the strip. At first glance, everything appeared normal. Yes, I'd read the article in Essence on prostitution in DR and a guy sitting next to me on the plane gave me even more information. So, I was kind of expecting it.
Sitting at the bar at the club in downtown Sosua that night, I first noticed a young, Caucasian man sipping a beer along with a friend. A young woman came up to him, rubbed his back, whispered in his ear and stayed by his side for a while. The young man looked nervous and turned down the woman's advances. After about 10 minutes, the woman left. By this time my friends and I decided to sit near the street so that we could really see what was going on. Jerks of all body types and races were flaunting and flirting with young Dominican and Haitian women... Everywhere. Among the prostitutes were teenaged boys, she-males, a midget, and let me not forget to mention the stark naked woman wandering the streets with her pimp following behind her in close range.
This is the bar where we sat and observed the scenery
While taking in the scene, a random guy from New York approached us and said he knew we weren't "hoes". He asked us why did we decide to come to Puerto Plata, and then proceeded to say that "...there is only one thing that's happening out here right now and that's hoeing..." Surprisingly though, no one bothered us. The girls were so aggressive that there's no way to mistake a prostitute from a non-prostitute.
Directly across the street from where we sat, we saw it all
Don't get me wrong, during the day we had a blast. We visited two beaches (Caleton and Playa Grande, which was gorgeous!!), the Blue Lagoon, and a plantation. We also went to a Vegas type show at Ocean World for dinner and dancing. The people and the island are beautiful but the nasty, disgusting men (both young and old) who are visiting for all the wrong reasons are polluting the place. I wish I hadn't seen what I saw but unfortunately it's a reality and a way of life. Looking in the faces of the beautiful young girls I could easily see that many felt ashamed and were disgraced. Hanging their heads and dejectedly following their johns, they hopped into unknown cars and disappeared into the balmy Dominican night. In my mind I kept yelling "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!", "DON'T GO WITH HIM" and "THIS ISN'T THE ONLY WAY!" Unfortunately though, for them it is.
All around our resort were men (many European) old enough to be someone's grandfather, while the girl they flaunted for the week looked to be barely out of high school. Both of our flights (going and coming) were 90% black men, some with friends and some without. It was nauseating to say the least. Upon arrival back in the states, most of them were probably headed home to kiss their wives or girlfriends.
Nevertheless, on Monday afternoon I boarded a plane with my four friends and went home. The gorgeous young bronze-skinned woman in the black sequined top doesn't get to escape that reality. Her reality.
If you'd like to be a part of the Dominican Republic's cause against sex tourism, please check out the Movement for International Self Development and Solidarity (MAIS) by clicking here.
21 comments:
thanks for the great post. My fiance and I are going to Bavaro/Punta Canta for Christmas and were thinking about buying a little property there. I am praying to for the beautiful women of the island right now!
I stayed in puerta plata in 05. And we didn't leave the resort because of the state department's warning of guerilla kidnappings. But thats terrible about the prostitution. :( Probably why punta cana is more visited than puerta plata. Our hotel was so close to the Haitian border you could see the barrier that went out into the water that seperated the 2 countries.
But I did witness the 4 people on the mopeds. The women there are soooo beautiful.
I first read about this topic in essence magazine. Oh, and a guy friend once told me about how it goes down in brazil. I dont know what else to say about this. Thinking about the men who go home and kiss their wives/gf disturbs me. ugh
This is really disappointing, but in all honesty I'm not surprised. I steer clear of resorts when I visit DR & stay with my family..
I also find it very interesting that black men who have felt the brunt of oppression in America are going to Brazil and taking on an oppressive role. These men are visiting these prostitutes with no thought or care about the economic distress in the country that makes prostitution a necessary vocation. It’s sad. I ache for everyone involved . . . the men who think this kind of thing is ok and the women who have to do it to survive.
Very good article.
Very beautiful island indeed. Sadly reality is very different. Racism is also an issue amongst many. But it's true most of these men head home proud as if they have no shame for even considering most of these womens situation.
Wow..sad, sad, sad..I remember reading and article about this last year I think in Essence. Men planning vacations there specifically to use prositutes. I guess these men don't have Mother's or sisters...or a wife to be able to do that.
I too, read about this in Essence. There's even a book about how men (mostly black) go down there just to sexually promiscuous. I wish I could remember the name right now. I'm sure if you google about this subject matter then you'll find it.
As a Dominican woman, this saddens me so much. i went to puerto plata two years ago and witnessed this myself. The situation is dire in DR, and these women think that prostituting them self is the only way they will make substantial money for their family and themselves. It's heartbreaking. thanks for bringing light to this. fyi next time you go, head over to punta cana. i love it there.
This is very sad and despicable at the same time. If only these men could look into the eyes of these young women and realize they are the eyes of someone's daughter, mother or sister.
Wow I heard stories before but dayum.
Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany
Thank you for bringing light to this issue & providing the link. Its really sad that these women feel this is their only way out. Unfortunately as a Latina, many men just look at you as a hot piece of ass. Its disgusting. I instantly thought of the play "Platanos & Collard Greens" because that is one of the points the girl made. Hopefully more attention is brought to this and the problem is controlled.
Wow. I'm so glad you had fun on your trip. But this article saddens me on many levels. Just the thought that young girls feel that they have to do this in order to survive. But its also hurtful that most of the men traveling down there were black men. Firstly because of how they view brazilian and latinas..like a piece of a**..and to make a trip solely to defy women. Sometimes am hateful of these kind of black men..as a black woman myself its hurtful that only a certain look of a woman is sexy to them
Wow, this post is beautifully written! You should be a journalist. Sex trafficking is Global, I visited a club in Shanghai,China. There were several cops in the club and prostitutes. One of my friends attempting to find a bathroom (while intoxicated) stumbled into a room behind a curtain where the John's take thier prostitute for the night! CRAZINESS!
Ya know I follow you on Twitter, so I remember you twittering this, and never thought to put together that I have a male associate that just came back from the DR. I also remember him saying him and his homeboys (all guys trip) has the time of their lives SMDH. Im sure this has to be a part of the reason because it seems like the type who would do something like this. Yuck!
Wow. Reading this gave me chills.
If you black american women acted like woman and not hard mean ass men, brothers wouldnt go to the DR just to get some sex. But yall dont want to hear to truth. Also the hotel workers are the real exploited ones earning small wages to "serve" you! Black woman need to soften up. But yall make good excuses for your harse behavior. You USE men to just give you babies but you dont really want a man LOL.
Yesterday I left my husband because I found out that he's made THREE of these such trips. I sit in my new surroundings wondering how I will literally and figuratively pay for my husband's sex trips to South America. Today I will go to a doctor and hope to God I am disease-free.
Myself, an American woman and my three year old daughter, are also victims of this behavior as well.
Feel for us too.
I enjoyed this article, but I'm left with some questions. In each article on this exact same topic, I've noticed that the women are portrayed as victims, just doing it for the money, a victim of their own economic circumstances. Well, isn't that what a prostitute usually is?? No matter where you go, 99 percent of prostitutes would rather be home, caring for their children and families, than on their knees bobbin on some stranger's penis. I mean seriously. If a prostitute in DR or Brazil deserves sympathy and dignity, then DAMN if the prostitutes we have right at home don't deserve the same!
It's that sort of hypocrisy and double standard that I find present in every article I've read on the topic.
Also, I don't find it surprising that in the comments, you will always find some Europeanized (read PATRIARCHAL/) fool who thinks that women are the blame for the faults of men. Men are exploiting women sexually, men are sex predators in Brazil and DR, but it's the women they live amongst in their own countries who they demand shoulder the blame for their predatory exploitation of these women.
It is very clear - while Black men are adopting the ways and values of their White "masters", it is Black men who are still trying to pass down traditional values and family structures (matriarchal), only to be demonized for their attempts to not assimilate, but transmit their African-based values.
Glad I have a real man to come home to every night, and an attorney, to boot. Doesn't get any better.
No one likes an immature, insecure, sex predator, and these fools who fly to these regions to exploit these women are exactly that.
And if prostitutes in my own backyard are going to be demonized as "whores", then damn if I'm not going to use the same terminology when that prostitute is in another country.
That doesn't mean that I think they are (or aren't) "whores". That simply means stop painting them to be victims, without offering the same sympathy to the pros in our own backyards.
prostituion is a problem in the us for black girls as well. check out the backpage of any city online. this is not new, i went to the DR and yes prostituion is rampent. i was there doingresearch at the university, and met a beautiful young woman who treated me like i was the best thing since sliced bread. i am twice divorced both black women. and i have only every dated black women. i have never felt more supported as a man then this woman made me feel. all i want do is see her happy everyday. it is sad so many brotgers take advantage of the econimic conditions in the DR. when they could find the support of woman who embraces the traditional roles of a man and woman and find peace in their home instead of competition
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