Zona Norte, Tijuana

Zona Norte is bordered by Downtown Tijuana (Zona Centro) on the south, Zona Río on the east, San Diego and the Mexico–United States border on the north, and colonia Castillo on the west. Politically, the Zona Norte neighborhood is part of the Delegación Centro. Tijuana's red light district itself encompasses just a couple of blocks within Zona Norte. The unofficial boundaries of the red light district extend from Avenida Revolución to Av. Miguel F. Martinez, east to west, and from Baja California to Calle Primera, north to south. The focal point of the red light district, however, is the core block bordered by Calle Coahuila on the north and Primer Callejón Coahuila on the south between Constitucion and Niños Heroes. ==Prostitution==

Prostitution is permitted in Tijuana's red light district, designated a zona de tolerancia, or "tolerance zone." Legal prostitution within the city requires sex workers to obtain a permit and be subjected to monthly health checkups. Brothels in Tijuana, many of them modeled on strip clubs and hostess clubs, must also conform to certain health regulations, such as standards of cleanliness, fixed operating hours, and be placed a regulated distance from schools or day care centers. In addition to established brothels, there are prostitutes who work outside on the callejones or alleys and are referred to as paraditas, Spanish for "the standing girls", for their practice of standing on the street to advertise their services. Paraditas have been regarded as part of Tijuana's cultural history, and attempts to force the women off the streets to curb such public advertising have proven unpopular and unsuccessful. ==Problems==

Illegal drug sales occur in Zona Norte. Substance abuse is not uncommon. 10% of hospitalizations in Tijuana are for alcoholism. Michael Hemmingson's ethnographic study, Zona Norte: The Post-Structural Body of Erotic Dancers and Sex Workers in Tijuana, San Diego, and Los Angeles, found that many of these girls lie about their age, saying they are 19–22, and do not work the streets, but special brothels. The study suggests much of trafficking claims are exaggerated by organizations with political, moral, and religious agendas. ==See also==