Costa Rica has made serious efforts to prevent and combat sexual abuse and exploitation of children, such as reforming the Criminal Code (law 7899 of 1999) and adopting an action plan to tackle this issue. Nevertheless Costa Rica is one of the most common destinations for sex tourists from North America and Europe. The country has the largest child sex tourism problem in the region and the capital, San José, is regarded as the business epicentre for such business in Costa Rica and Central America.

The vulnerability, particularly of girls and adolescents, also increases when they have their own children. In most cases, pregnancies are not planned or desired, and sometimes are a product of the sexual exploitation itself (41% of the underage girls interviewed have at least one child). Having children for whom they are responsible puts great pressure on the adolescents mothers to find income, while not having education and labour training puts them at enormous risk of being involved in commercial sexual exploitation.