Thousands are homeless and make their life on the streets. In the wake of Mitch, last year's devastating hurricane, thousands of jobs have been lost and more children left to fend for themselves. The exploitation of children is aided by weak laws, and an underfunded police force. Although pimping is illegal in Honduras, prostitution is not, making it hard for police to mount successful investigations. Central America also has no laws regarding the transmission of digital pornographic images through the Internet.
Low wages make prostitution especially attractive.
The problem is that they are not forced into it. Politicians have typically turned a blind eye to what goes on. They are swamped with other poverty issues, but often corruption plays a part. But the authorities generally seem more concerned for the image of their country and for tourism rather than publicly accepting that their countries are being targeted by pedophiles. That may be changing.