Prostitution in Aruba started to expand when oil refineries were opened on the island in the s. Many prostitutes migrated to the island to service the oil workers and sailors from the oil tankers. Regulations started during the s allowed women to work for up to 3 months as "nightclub hostesses" in the bars and clubs of Sint Nicolaas ' red-light district. Women from Colombia, Venezuela , Cuba , Panama and the Dominican Republic came to the island to work in the clubs and bars.
Currently, regulated prostitution is limited to one zone in Sint Nicolaas. There are also escorts on the island advertising on the Internet and newspapers aimed at tourists. Sex trafficking is a problem on the island. Bonaire permits a single brothel , For 40 years this was the "Pachi". The "Men's Heaven", operating in the Hamlet hotel, has applied for the permit. Women migrated to the island to service the needs of the oil workers and sailors from the tankers.
The governor appointed a commission that included the police, the public health department and the clergy with a view to solving the prostitution problem. They concluded that the best alternative was to concentrate prostitution in one location away from the town centre, [12] The plan was for a complex of appeasements where prostitutes could work independently.
Some prostitution occurs in other bars on the island and in small unlicensed brothels. Due to its low population 1, in , [16] there are no reports of permanent prostitution on the island. It was reported in that "dancers" were coming to the island at weekends and engaging in prostitution.
It has been reported that one or possibly two brothels exist on St Eustatia. Sint Maarten has the second largest brothel in the area, the "Seamans Club". As the bulk of these fishermen are Japanese , it is known locally as the "Japanese Club". Prostitution also occurs in nightclubs and hotels. Generally, prostitution is accepted in Sint Maarten and seen as a necessary part of the tourism industry.
