Monday night, Coastguard personnel went in San Nicolaas’s streets and captured about 14 women who work the streets. It was noticeable that for a few weeks now that the presence of these women could be seen in the streets of San Nicolas
The only difference is that these women aren’t legal like before. These women arrived as tourists and went to live in the rooms above the bars, without the necessary controls. On the other side, it must be mentioned that without the presence of these women, San Nicolaas is pretty dead.
The owners of the bars have tried different ways to get the Government’s attention on the topic and to solve the problem of the bars and these women in San Nicolas.
While bars/restaurants are open in Oranjestad, where 6 people could sit together at one table, in San Nicolas, the bars are being prohibited from opening. They have families to feed, rent, water, and electricity to pay, but the bars are not operating. So they rented out the rooms with these women to generate some income to cover operational costs.
The presence of the Coastguard scared off all the other women who are also working the streets. They don’t want to go out, so they won’t get caught. However, the bars in San Nicolas are being treated unfairly compared to those in Oranjestad.
They are appealing to the Government to please attend to this situation. There must be rules that could apply to the bars to be allowed to operate their bars. If you stop illegal prostitution in San Nicolas, it will take place elsewhere anyway. The government needs to meet with the bar owners to revive that area again.
