Born Into [Tijuana] Brothels
About the Author
Aaron is a mission trip coordinator for a small non-profit working in Tijuana, Mexico. The organization builds homes for the poor and operates an orphanage where he can often be found helping out with the children.
On a friend’s recommendation I watched Born Into Brothels last night. This documentary is about the children of prostitutes living in Calcutta’s red light district. Not something you want to rent for family movie night.
The film had some dramatic and shocking scenes in it but what struck me the most is that they probably could have made a nearly identical movie in Tijuana’s own Zona Roja. The streets of Calcutta were strikingly similar to those of this city with scantily clad women — some of them obviously underage — lined up along the curb. The practice is legal here and women come (or are traded, according to some) from all over Latin America to work the three block area downtown.
What happens to the children of these prostitutes?
I have heard stories that closely align with scenes from the movie — everything from being chained to their beds while mom is out working to being sold into the sex trade. Sadly, Tijuana has even become known for it’s child sex tourism in recent years. The language on the billboard pictured here indicates who the customers are. It is strategically positioned just as you cross the border into Mexico.
Why aren’t they in orphanages?
There are over 40 homes like the one I work in all over the city, however, I know of only one that has a specific program for these children. Casa Hogar El Pozo (The Well Orphanage) is located just a block away from Tijuana’s brothels and is home to over 30 children of prostitutes. Some get dropped off voluntarily by the moms, others are brought in by the welfare department. Whatever the situation, they take them in, care for their needs and try to get them into school.
Without minimizing the difficult situations kids in our home come from (drugs, neglect, poverty, and all varieties of abuse), a conversation with the missionaries at El Pozo gave me a whole new perspective on the struggles a child can face.
Pray for them, it’s a tough ministry.
November 13th, 2006 at 9:54 am
That is truly one of the most awful, sad situations I have ever heard of. God bless those ministries working with those children.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
I would have to agree with my friend Todd. This is so sad, and I thank you guys for the work you do in the orphanages down there. I know that you guys do not work specifically with that group, but you take the children out of horrible situations and give them a home! THANK YOU!
December 8th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Hey Aaron, I thought this may be of interest to you.
Mission-World is a website that may bring in support for you and your ministry. Please get on there so people can find you and start giving. I hope I can find you on there soon. Your ministry is moving and sad. I pray that supporters will surface and Gods kingdom will be established on those three blocks.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Aaron,
It is hard to fathom the consequences of a poverty sticken nation when we live in the land of plenty. In March I was sitting in church and I felt the Holy Spirit say to me “Go to the children of Tijuana”. I’ve never been, but my husband went a couple of years ago and was saddened by the mothers with very small children on the streets at night, in the cold, peddling. Needless to say we have plane tickets to come in June. Is there any way we could come and visit your orphange that you support? We really don’t know what God’s intentions are , but we are going to pray about it and see where God leads. Please let me know if there is anyway we can help…..
Thank You,
Shannon Lloyd
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I am a student curently living in Los Angeles, and researching about the red light district in Tijuana. Aaron, I would appreciate your help, if I could interview you, about what you are doing to change this situation? Also, If you have any contacts inthe orphanages in Tijuana that hold significant information about sex trafficking.
June 1st, 2007 at 1:48 pm
My husband was born in Nuevo Laredo sometime in 1975 so we think. Some say he is older than what is on his records here. He was placed in an orphanage there when he was 2 years old. I do not know if there is more than one orphanage or not but I would like to know where he was at. He can not remember alot about it. He was adopted around the age of 5 if he was born in 1975. Anyway I would like to know how many orphanages are in Nuevo Laredo. We too would like to adopt a child because I can not have anymore. I have two with my ex-husband but my new husband has no children. We have so many questions about his birth parents. He has been told a few different stories about his mother and he was told his father was white which was why he was placed in the orphanage in the first place. Having white blood was a disgrace to the Mexican culture. His mother was married to a Mexican man when david was born. That leads me to believe his mother was a prostitute but I would not say that to him. If you have anyway to contact the orphanage it would be great to get the info from you. Maybe if he found out the truth he could make peace with it.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Hello Aaron
Based on your experience, do you have any suggestions on the best routes to take or organizations to link with to become a long-term missionary to orphans? A web search returns so many results that it is hard to know where to begin.
Many thanks for any help and many blessings,
Summer
March 13th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I am so glad that I am not the only person that god has spoken to about the children i n Tijuana. I have two kids of my own both under the age of two. I have told my husband that i have to do something about it I can’t just turn my head and act like the world is wonderful when it is really not. i thank you all for caring so much about those children. God bless you on your trip
March 25th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Hate to disagree with you, but all Tijuana “working” women, whether working the street or in a bar, HAVE to have a medical card, and can’t get one until they turn 18. Whether the ID they provide to get this card really shows their proper age is a different question. All a john has to do to ascertain whether a girl is legitimate, is to ask to see the “tarjeta medical” - if the girl won’t show it, then don’t patronize her…
April 9th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Prostitution in Tijuana is a very complex binational issue. The reality is that prostitution in Tijuana and other border cities emerge as a result of the proximity of the U.S. The important thing here is that we continue to build coalitions with each other…
April 10th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
@Maria Ortega: I wouldn’t say the proximity to the US is the whole cause of prostitution in Tijuana. Sadly the same problems discussed in this aritcle are reported to exist all over the country.
@peter fox sullivan: I think you missed the point of the article. This isn’t a how-to guide.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I agree that many factors exist for the emergence of prostitution in Tijuana. However, historically, the city of Tijuana emerged because of its proximity to the U.S. If you examine the history of Tijuana, you will find that during American Prohibition (approximately 1919-1930) Tijuana experienced a great boom as Americans flocked to the border for alcohol, gambling and prostitution, all activities that were “banned” in the U.S. Many American bar owners, brothels and distillers took advantage of the proximity of Tijuana and moved their businesses to Tijuana. As you can imagine, the majority of the clients were American. During this time Mexico was also going through a Revolution, and so for many years Baja California remained isolated and neglected from the interior. In many ways, the activities occurring in Tijuana were influenced by activities happening in the U.S. and American policy like prohibition. Agua Caliente race track amongst others emerged during this period. This is important because since then, Tijuana acquired a reputation as a city of vice, and it hasn’t been able to redeem itself from this stereotype.
Specifically in times of war, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns such as Ciudad Juarez also experienced great booms, as a direct result of their proximity to U.S. military bases. We have examples of this during WWII, Vietnam with militarized prostitution at the border…
Why is this important? Because it illustrates the importance of physical space that allows for these activities to occur…
Although prostitution occurs all over the country and all over the world, its important to understand the historical connection between Tijuana and the U.S. Precisely because of Tijuana’s proximity to the U.S. and the possibility of earning dollars without having to migrate to the United States, the red-light district functions as a vacuum that continues to attract young women from Mexico’s interior and from other parts of Latin America….
Its a very complex issue, with many ways to analyze it…
April 10th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Well put. The history is important and should not be side-stepped. The reason I’m quick to point out the issues are similar on other parts of the map is that visitors often think prostitution is unique to Tijuana.
Question: what do you mean by “militarized prostitution at the border”? I know TJ was a hot spot for soldiers stationed at Camp Pendleton to party, but is there more to the story?
By the way, the Cuarta Feria Tijuana en la Historia started today at CECUT.
Regards,
Aaron
April 10th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Militarized prostitution is a term that is used to refer to the ways that prostitution develops in time of war and becomes militarized…anytime you have troops in third world countries, red-light districts emerge. The concept of militarized prostitution was developed by Cynthia Enloe in her book titled “Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives” and basically she argues that militarized prostitution shapes soldier’s expectations about women (mostly in third world countries) and she argues that soldiers that engage in militarized prostitution create their their masculinities relative to that of women of color (subordination)….
Here’s an excerpt of her book if you’re interested….
Maneuvers takes readers on a global tour of the sprawling process called “militarization.” With her incisive verve and moxie, eminent feminist Cynthia Enloe shows that the people who become militarized are not just the obvious ones–executives and factory floor workers who make fighter planes, land mines, and intercontinental missiles. They are also the employees of food companies, toy companies, clothing companies, film studios, stock brokerages, and advertising agencies. Militarization is never gender-neutral, Enloe claims: It is a personal and political transformation that relies on ideas about femininity and masculinity. Films that equate action with war, condoms that are designed with a camouflage pattern, fashions that celebrate brass buttons and epaulettes, tomato soup that contains pasta shaped like Star Wars weapons–all of these contribute to militaristic values that mold our culture in both war and peace.Presenting new and groundbreaking material that builds on Enloe’s acclaimed work in Does Khaki Become You? and Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, Maneuvers takes an international look at the politics of masculinity, nationalism, and globalization. Enloe ranges widely from Japan to Korea, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Britain, Israel, the United States, and many points in between. She covers a broad variety of subjects: gays in the military, the history of “camp followers,” the politics of women who have sexually serviced male soldiers, married life in the military, military nurses, and the recruitment of women into the military. One chapter titled “When Soldiers Rape” explores the many facets of the issue in countries such as Chile, the Philippines, Okinawa, Rwanda, and the United States.Enloe outlines the dilemmas feminists around the globe face in trying to craft theories and strategies that support militarized women, locally and internationally, without unwittingly being militarized themselves. She explores the complicated militarized experiences of women as prostitutes, as rape victims, as mothers, as wives, as nurses, and as feminist activists, and she uncovers the “maneuvers” that military officials and their civilian supporters have made in order to ensure that each of these groups of women feel special and separate.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
P.S. Thanks for the conversation,
Maria