Child Protection · Protección de la Niñez
Child Protection at Loma Verde
Protecting children is part of who we are.
Apartamentos Loma Verde is a home — for the owners who live here part of the year, for our residents, and for guests who stay with us for weeks or months at a time. A home has a door, and a door has rules. Ours exist, above all, to protect children.
From the heart
A welcome with a boundary
We say this plainly: there is no booking, no long stay and no amount of money that buys an exception to our child-protection rules. We would rather lose a guest than look the other way.
A child is never, under any circumstance, responsible for harm done to them — the adult is, always. That conviction sits behind every check at our door, every rule in this building, and everything on this page.
Our people
We are families, too
We are mothers and fathers. We are sons and daughters — every one of us, whatever our age, is somebody’s child. Everyone connected to this building — the staff at the door, our cleaning and maintenance teams, our managers, our owners and investors, our suppliers — is a family person, and many of us are raising children of our own right here in Medellín. And most importantly, so are our guests: families who trust us with the most precious thing they have. That is why this is not a policy to us, and it never was. Protecting children is personal.
The problem is real — including in our city
We do not publish this page because it looks good. We publish it because the problem is real, including in our city.
children as victims of commercial sexual exploitation offences in Colombia, 2015–2025 (DANE, from Fiscalía records). 2,093 of them in 2025 alone
reported victims per 100,000 minors in Antioquia in 2025 — well above the national rate of 14.6
people and 1,648 tourism businesses — sensitized on prevention protocols by Medellín’s Tourism Secretariat
school students trained since 2025 through the “Guardians, ¡Me Protejo!” programme, with the Child & Adolescent Police and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations
- Colombia’s national statistics office (DANE), working from Fiscalía records, counted 22,697 children recorded as victims of commercial sexual exploitation offences between 2015 and 2025 — 2,093 of them in 2025 alone. Those are only the cases that reached the authorities; every serious study warns that the true number is higher.
- In Antioquia, our department, the reported rate in 2025 was 24.3 victims per 100,000 minors — well above the national rate of 14.6.
- Medellín Cómo Vamos, the city’s independent quality-of-life observatory, describes this exploitation in Medellín as a phenomenon that is difficult to measure, but whose gravity and presence in the city are undeniable — and notes that official alerts rose in recent years even where police-processed cases fell. Under-reporting is part of the problem, never a reason for comfort.
- Medellín’s intersectoral working group against this exploitation (Mesa Intersectorial contra la ESCNNA) identifies hotels, short-stay apartments and platform-rented homes among the settings where abuse can occur. That is exactly why lodging operators cannot treat this as somebody else’s problem: our doors are one of the places where prevention works.
No hotel can solve this alone, and we do not pretend otherwise. Protection works when families, communities, businesses and public authorities each do their part — and Medellín is doing real work. The city’s Tourism Secretariat has sensitized 4,473 people and 1,648 tourism businesses on prevention protocols; more than 20,000 school students have been trained since 2025 through the “Guardians, ¡Me Protejo!” programme, run with the Child and Adolescent Police and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations; and migration screening at the airport turns away suspected offenders before they reach the city. We are glad to stand alongside that effort. This page is our part of it.
What we do — every day, without exceptions
Everyone is registered
Every guest and every visitor is registered before entering, with a valid government identity document — a cédula for Colombians, a passport for foreign visitors. No registration, no entry. There are no exceptions for cash payments, long stays or repeat guests.
Children stay with their parents or legal guardians
Our staff verify the relationship with documents, as Colombian law requires (Ley 1336 de 2009). If the documents do not prove the relationship, we refuse admission — politely, but firmly.
Our team is trained
Staff learn the warning signs of exploitation and exactly what to do when they see them. Protecting a child always takes priority over a booking.
House rules are enforced
Prostitution, unregistered visitors and any illegal activity are prohibited in the building, and the rules are applied to everyone equally.
Concerns are acted on immediately
Suspected exploitation is escalated to management and reported to the Policía de Infancia y Adolescencia and the Fiscalía General de la Nación, and our registration records are preserved for the authorities.
We are a registered provider
Loma Verde is registered in the Registro Nacional de Turismo (RNT No. 91143) and applies the code of conduct for the prevention of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents required under Ley 679 de 2001 and Ley 1336 de 2009.
The record
This is not new for us — the documented record
These rules were enforced at Loma Verde long before they were a topic of public conversation.
Our management warned a long-stay guest in writing, restating the house rules — including the prohibition of prostitution and the protection of residents — after an incident in the building.
When the conduct continued, we took the matter to court ourselves, filing an acción de tutela that documented the events and our enforcement.
We enforced these rules then, and we enforce them today.
Recognition
Our recognition
Member of The Code · 2025 — renewed 2026
In 2025, Apartamentos Loma Verde (Loma Verde Casacol S.A.S.) was recognized as a Member of The Code — The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children in Travel and Tourism, run by ECPAT International — “for their leadership and commitment in protecting children from sexual exploitation” — and that membership was renewed for 2026.
We publish the certificates because commitments should be checkable, not just stated.
The Code certificate 2026 (PDF)
The Code certificate 2025 (PDF)
Our guest policies and the Loma Verde contract carry the same rules every guest signs at check-in.
If something feels wrong, tell us
You do not need proof, and you will be taken seriously. Speak to reception or building management, at any hour.
And if you are a parent travelling with your children: welcome. The document checks at our door apply to everyone equally — they are how we keep every child in this building safe, including yours.
Frequently asked questions
Only with documents proving legal guardianship or authorization, verified by our staff before admission, as Colombian law requires. Without that proof, admission is refused.
No. Every person staying in or visiting a unit must be registered with a valid identity document.
The concern is escalated immediately to management and reported to the Policía de Infancia y Adolescencia and the Fiscalía, and registration records are preserved for the authorities.
Hospitality is trust. Medellín’s children are this city’s future, and keeping them safe is work that belongs to all of us. We are proud to do our part.
— The team at Apartamentos Loma Verde
Sources: DANE, Caracterización Estadística sobre Explotación Sexual Comercial de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes (CEESCNNA), data to December 31, 2025 · Medellín Cómo Vamos, Calidad de vida de la primera infancia en Medellín (2024) · Mesa Intersectorial contra la ESCNNA de Medellín, Análisis de la situación de la ESCNNA en Medellín y recomendaciones de abordaje 2024–2027 · Alcaldía de Medellín, prevention balance, September 2026.