Mexico

Mexico's federal General Law to Prevent, Sanction and Eradicate Crimes in Matters of Trafficking in Persons (LGPSEDMTP), published in the Official Gazette 14 June 2012 and reformed in 2014 and 2024, criminalises sex and labour trafficking with penalties of 5–30 years, but its definition is so broad that scholars and activists say it sweeps voluntary sex work into trafficking prosecutions. Selling sex between consenting adults is not a federal crime; regulation is left to each state and municipality. On 5 February 2014, First District Judge Paula María García Villegas Sánchez Cordero issued amparo 112/2013 ordering Mexico City's Secretariat of Labour (STyFE) to recognise sex workers as "trabajadores no asalariados" — the same non-salaried-worker category covering shoeshiners and street musicians since 1972 — though as of 2026 STyFE still refuses to issue credentials. On 31 May 2019, Mexico City's Congress voted 38-0 to strike the clause of the Civic Culture Law that let police arrest sex workers for "disturbing the peace", making CDMX the country's only true decriminalised jurisdiction. Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and other northern cities run registration-based zonas de tolerancia. Tlaxcala remains the country's pimping epicentre despite federal anti-trafficking statutes.

CDMX street and indoor work concentrates in La Merced (where Brigada Callejera is based) and the Zona Rosa/Sullivan corridor; despite decriminalisation, residual Civic Culture Law provisions still let police harass workers. Tijuana's Zona Norte (Calle Coahuila and its paraditas alleys) is the largest regulated red-light district in the Americas, but in 2023 the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG fought openly for control of its brothels. Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Quintana Roo tolerate escort services targeting US/Canadian tourists, while ECPAT documents persistent child sexual exploitation. Tenancingo (Tlaxcala) — population ~10,000 — has an estimated 1,000 padrotes per Polaris/CNN reporting. Cartel presence — not law enforcement — is the primary safety risk: extortion of venues, forced labour, and disappearances. Trans sex workers face the sharpest violence: 55 transfemicides in 2024.

The Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares (LFPDPPP, 2010) nominally protects worker data, but enforcement is weak and screenshots regularly surface in cartel extortion cases. Locanto, Skokka and Mileroticos dominate online advertising; Telegram and WhatsApp are the dominant booking channels. Cross-border FBI/HSI operations target Tlaxcala-origin trafficking rings.

US/Canadian sex tourism to Tijuana, Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Puerto Vallarta is significant; the legality of buying sex in zonas de tolerancia is real, but the surrounding context — cartel control, child exploitation, US PROTECT Act extraterritorial trafficking statutes — creates substantial legal exposure for foreign clients. Foreign workers need a work-authorised visa for any income; informal sex work on a tourist visa is grounds for INM detention and deportation, and is the most common pretext for police extortion. Baja California, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Michoacán and parts of Veracruz are among the most violent regions in the hemisphere — solo work in unregulated areas is not safe.

Locanto Mexico, Skokka Mexico, Mileroticos, SimpleEscorts MX, Telegram channels (CDMX, Guadalajara, Tijuana regional groups).

• Brigada Callejera "Elisa Martínez" — Elvira Madrid Romero, since 1995
• APROASE — Asociación Pro Apoyo a Servidores (HIV services CDMX)
• GAATW Mexico hub — regional anti-trafficking rights-based