With 451 votes in favor, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved a reform to combat child sex tourism in Mexico. It is a crime that for years was ignored by the authorities, despite constant complaints from civil organizations.
The ruling modifies the General Tourism Law, requiring hotels and service providers to verify the legal relationship between adults and minors, and to deny service if no proof of kinship is presented.
During the session, the PRI revealed that around 600,000 sexual predators enter the country each year. Mexico already ranks second in this criminal industry, only behind Thailand.
The reform arises after years of omission in which the State allowed tourist areas to facilitate child exploitation. The impunity is alarming: less than 1% of cases are punished, while the crime grows unchecked.
The PRI estimates that this criminal network generates about 24 billion dollars annually, sustained by political silence. Despite its magnitude, the issue has been downplayed by the authorities for decades.
Measures that should have arrived decades ago
The reform requires tour operators to request documents that prove the relationship between adults and minors traveling together.
If such a relationship is not proven, the provider must deny the service and immediately notify the authorities. Protocols are also established to detect possible cases of trafficking or exploitation during entry, lodging, or transit.
The ruling was supported by all parties, but several legislators admitted that the Mexican legal framework remained permissive with child sex tourism. There were no effective mechanisms to stop those traveling for criminal purposes, nor a clear legal responsibility for providers who were passive witnesses.
The reform seeks to close a legal loophole that for years benefited abuse networks, often in collaboration with local authorities.
Mexico as a destination: figures that expose the moral decay of the State
During the debate, Deputy Tania Palacios Kuri (PAN) warned that more than 17,000 minors are sexually exploited each year in Mexico, with a high concentration in tourist cities.
The State legislates only when media pressure is unsustainable, but doubts persist about its real capacity to enforce the law. Mexico did not become a haven for abusers by chance, but due to the passive complicity of a political system that ignored the problem.
