Colombia

Selling sex by adults is lawful in Colombia, but the Código Penal (Ley 599/2000, as amended by Ley 1236/2008 and Ley 1329/2009) criminalises everyone around the worker: Art. 213 (Inducción a la prostitución) punishes inducement with 10–22 years; Arts. 213-A and 217 target proxenetismo and establishments involving minors with up to 25 years; Art. 214 punishes coercion with 9–13 years; Art. 217-A criminalises the client who pays for sex with a person under 18. The Constitutional Court's landmark Sentencia T-629/2010 recognised that an "employment relationship" can exist between a sex worker and a venue owner, granting full labour-law protection including maternity, social security and dignity rights. T-594/2016 reaffirmed sex workers as sujetos de especial protección constitucional; T-073/2017 was annulled by Auto 449/2017 and replaced by Sala Plena ruling SU-062/2019, which preserved the labour-rights doctrine. Congress has not enacted a comprehensive statute, leaving regulation to municipal ordinances and case law.

Medellín was the most visible market until Mayor Federico "Fico" Gutiérrez's April 1, 2024 emergency decrees suspended commercial sex demand in El Poblado/Parque Lleras for six months after U.S. citizen Timothy Alan Livingston was found with two girls aged 12 and 13 in a Gotham-hotel room. Cartagena and Santa Marta remain sex-tourism hubs; Bogotá's red-light activity concentrates in Los Mártires, Santa Fe and Kennedy; Cali has historic street-level zones. Venezuelan migrants — roughly 2.9 million in Colombia by end-2023 — make up an estimated 35%+ of those in commercial sex. The Procuraduría reported a 400% rise in trafficking victims aged 12–17 between 2022 and 2023. Collectives such as Las Guerreras del Centro (Medellín) and SINTRASEXCO (national, registered November 2015 as the first sex-worker union in the world) provide peer support.

Ley Estatutaria 1581/2012 (the General Data Protection Law) plus Decreto 1377/2013 governs all platforms holding personal data; the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC) enforces with fines up to 2,000 SMMLV and Circular Externa 003/2025 added model clauses for cross-border transfers. Sensitive data (sexual orientation, sexual life) requires express, prior, informed consent.

U.S. and EU travellers should know Medellín's emergency measures remain enforced in rolling extensions through 2025: ID checks at Parque Lleras barricades, 2 a.m. closing limits, and Airbnb restrictions in El Poblado are active. The U.S. Angel Watch system shares sex-offender records with Migración Colombia — 5,559 foreign nationals were denied entry in 2023, 70 flagged as predators. Tourist visa stays are 90 days (extendable to 180). The 2024–2025 U.S. State Department advisory lists Colombia at Level 2–3 depending on region with specific warnings about scopolamine incidents linked to dating apps in Medellín.

Skokka.com.co (largest classifieds), Mileroticos.com (Colombia section), Locanto.com.co, Telegram channels (especially in Medellín/Bogotá).

• SINTRASEXCO — first sex workers' union in the world (2015)
• ASMUBULI — Asociación de Mujeres Buscando Libertad
• RedTraSex Colombia