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Child prostitution
Costa Rica is a destination for , even though the main source of clients was local, as reported by Tapiana Tregar, CEO of Fundacion Procal (a local NGO attempting to prevent and treat violence against women and children) in a 2000 article. In the same article, Bruce Harris, regional director of Casa Alianza (the Latin American branch of international child care agency Covenant House) said that; even though child prostitution was identified across , the problem seemed to be more "out of control" in Costa Rica. Exact numbers of the children involved were unknown at the time, and the government of Costa Rica had not gathered detailed statistics.The sexual exploitation of children is a significant issue in Costa Rica, and has drawn the attention of the public. Many sex tourists prefer to target children, believing that they are less likely to be infected with HIV. However, children are more susceptible to HIV infection than other age groups.