WILLEMSTAD – Since the closure of the former open-air brothel Campo Alegre, sex work on Curaçao has increasingly shifted into informal and hidden venues such as snèks, small bars, and improvised clubs scattered across the island. This trend has been observed by health workers at Fundashon Famia Plania, an organization that provides sexual health services to sex workers. 

According to Jacqueline Martis, advisor at Famia Plania, the decline in regulated sex work began even before Campo Alegre closed. “There’s a perception that things worsened after Campo shut down, but the situation was already spiraling out of control,” Martis explained. “Several years ago, in collaboration with an international organization, we conducted research into this informal sector and identified approximately 200 locations — snèks and bars — where sex work was taking place.” 

She emphasized that Curaçao had already been facing a high supply of sex work prior to the brothel's closure. “With the crisis in Venezuela, the situation has only intensified,” Martis said. “Campo could accommodate at most about 150 women every three months, but hundreds of women from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and especially Venezuela have arrived seeking work. Many couldn’t work at Campo because they lacked the necessary permits.” 

Famia Plania staff believe the number of disguised brothels on the island has steadily increased and that the sex industry has become part of a largely invisible underground network, operating in secluded and unregulated environments. 

“Customers seem to develop a kind of ‘sixth sense’ for finding these secretive sex snèks,” one staff member added. 

The foundation continues to advocate for improved outreach and health services for sex workers, while also raising awareness of the evolving dynamics and hidden risks within the island’s informal sex economy.