Irene Lôbo
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - For this week, the Federal Police in the northeastern city of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), prepared another operation to combat sexual tourism in the state. This type of action occurs periodically, says the regional executive commissioner of the Federal Police in RN, Luis Fernando Ayres.

At the present time, sexual tourism in Brazil is most frequent in the cities of Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, and Natal, all in the Northeast.

In the wee morning hours last Saturday (1), a PF operation surprised 110 foreigners, including Norwegians, Swiss, Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese, without their passports in a nightclub on Ponta Negra beach, one of the most famous in Natal.

The operation involved 45 federal police agents and resulted in summonses being issued to three of the foreigners, two for possession of marijuana and cocaine and one for disrespecting authority. According to Ayres, the only people in the club were hookers and foreign tourists, a situation that typifies sexual tourism. No children or adolescents were found on the premises.

In Brazil sexual tourism is only a crime when it involves children and adolescents. In such cases, under the terms of the Statute of Children and Adolescents, tourists can be charged with sexual exploitation of minors and rape, among other crimes. The penalty is a 2-5 year prison sentence.

According to Ayres, the intention is to embarrass tourists who come to Brazil in search of whores. "Sexual tourism is frowned upon, because there are people who make money by exploiting these women, taking advantage of their human needs," the delegate affirms.

Translation: David Silberstein