Prostitution in Guatemala is legal but procuring is prohibited. Child sex tourism is a problem in the country especially in areas such as Antigua and Guatemala City. Human trafficking is also a significant and growing problem in the country, particularly the exploitation of children in prostitution. Many women and children are brought into the country from El Salvador , Nicaragua , and Honduras by organized rings that force them into prostitution. In colonial Guatemala, and into the 20th century, prostitution was thought of as necessary to protect the virtues of the "ladies" of Guatemala.
Brothels and street prostitution were tolerated and commonplace. Any woman, whether a prostitute or not, convicted of "bad conduct" could be incarcerated in a brothel for up to 3 years. In Guatemala City there is a red-light district by the "La Linea" railway track. They do have to pay protection money to local gangs. The 'Oblate Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer' provide outreach services to the women and run a drop-in center.
In , [15] some of the prostitutes formed a five-a-side football team to bring attention to the indignities and dangers of their lives. During the game the parents found out how the team playing their daughters were and had the game stopped. Following this the team was expelled from the league. As a result of the publicity surrounding the incident, a local travel company sponsored them to go on a tour of Guatemala, playing against other teams [16] including other teams of prostitutes, such as the "Tigers of Desire", a team from a brothel in Flores.
With less than 1 percent of the adult population estimated to be HIV -positive, Guatemala is considered to have a concentrated epidemic. International tourists travel to Guatemala to engage in child sex tourism , especially in areas such as Antigua and Guatemala City.
Children from poor families fall victims to trafficking for purposes of prostitution through advertisements for lucrative foreign jobs or through personal recruitment. Street children are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation. According to ECPAT, the incidents of trafficking in persons and the sale of children for sexual exploitation have likely increased due to higher unemployment rates and increasing numbers of individuals living in extreme poverty.
