Prostitution in Colombia is legal, regulated and limited to brothels in designated "tolerance zones". Sex workers are required to have regular health checks. However, the laws are rarely applied and prostitution is widespread, partly due to poverty and internal displacement.

Domestically, organized crime networks, some related to illegal armed groups, are responsible for human trafficking for sexual slavery and the armed conflict has made a large number of internal trafficking victims vulnerable.

UNAIDS estimate there to be 7,218 prostitutes in the country.

A series of factors put children at risk for sexual exploitation in Colombia and leave them unprotected. The war and the drug trade have altered family structures that in ordinary times would have provided safety and nurture. The war has also caused the displacement of countless families, some of whose children have been soldiers in the war. Displaced children are particularly vulnerable to being forced into prostitution, even more so in the declining economy.

A spokesman for the UN's children's fund, UNICEF, Karel de Rooy, said many child prostitutes were as young as nine years old and that clients were often middle-aged foreigners. He also said that the children were often addicted to drugs.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is found especially in urban centers and in areas where there are large numbers of men who are separated from families due to work. Children are involved in commercial sexual exploitation either on the streets or in private establishments such as bars, brothels, or massage parlors.

The culture of violence in Colombia had created a feeling of fear and resignation among the population; the violence had led to child prostitution and child gangs which added to the worsening situation of violence.

Colombia also is a destination for foreign child sex tourists, particularly coastal cities such as Cartagena and Barranquilla.