Casinos around the world are frequently accused of being the haunts of prostitutes, so perhaps it was not so much of a coincidence that newspaper reports from two countries should be published simultaneously, highlighting the difficulties in keeping the two businesses separate. One report came from Panama, the other from the United States, but both were in top tourist areas.

The report in Panama’s El Siglo pointed out that the country’s Tourism Institute always complains when the media mention sex tourism, but that prostitutes are all too evident plying their trade at top hotels and, in particular, the city’s casino bars. The newspaper commented that the ease with which the business of prostitution continued to operate showed the lack of any controls implemented by administrators of the hotel casinos, the police and the Health Ministry. El Siglo suggested that as the problem was so evident it appeared that the authorities did not want to eradicate the clandestine trade.

In Las Vegas the casinos know how difficult it is to control prostitution but insist that it is not tolerated. Eyewitness News reported that many tourists think that prostitution is legal in Las Vegas, which it is not, but that it is often difficult to discern between a couple of consenting adults and a business transaction. Hotel security and surveillance plus sting operations help to keep prostitution low profile, but eliminating it is impossible.

The prostitutes in Panama’s capital city may be more visible than in Las Vegas, but then those in the ‘oldest profession’ are working in a far smaller environment in Panama. One thing is certain, casinos and prostitution do not mix – sex for money on offer is a distraction from the profitable business of gambling operations. (E-09.07.07)

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