Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean

Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Clare Ribando Seelke Specialist in Latin American Affairs September 9, 2011July 15, 2013 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL33200 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Summary Trafficking in persons (TIP) for the purpose of exploitation is a lucrative criminal activity that is of major concern to the United States and the international community. According to the most recent U.S. State Department estimates, roughly 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year. If trafficking within countries is included in the total world figures, official U.S. estimates are that some 2 million to 4 million people are trafficked annually. While most trafficking victims still appear to originate from South and Southeast Asia or the former Soviet Union, human trafficking is also a growingU.S. State Department, as many as 27 million people may be trafficking victims around the world at any given time. In recent years, the largest numbers of trafficking victims have been identified in Africa and Europe; however human trafficking is also a major problem in Latin America. Countries in Latin America serve as source, transit, and destination countries for trafficking victims. Latin America is a primary source region for people trafficked to the United States. As many as 17,500 are trafficked into the United States each year, according to State Department estimates. In FY2010, primary countries of origin for the 449 foreign trafficking victims certified Men, women, and children are victimized within their own countries, as well as trafficked to other countries in the region. Latin America is also a primary source region for people trafficked to the United States. In FY2012, for example, primary countries of origin for foreign trafficking victims certified as eligible to receive U.S. assistance included Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic (along with India and Thailand) Honduras, and Guatemala (along with Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia). Smaller numbers of Latin American TIP victims are trafficking to Europe and Asia. Latin America serves as a transit region for Asian TIP victims. Since enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, P.L. 106-386), Congress has taken steps to address human trafficking by authorizing new programs and reauthorizing existing ones, appropriating funds, creating new criminal laws, and conducting oversight on the effectiveness and implications of U.S. anti-TIP policy. Most recently, the TVPA was reauthorized through FY2011 in the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-457). Obligations for U.S.-funded anti-TIP programs in Latin America totaled roughly $17.1 million in FY2010. On June 27, 2011, the State Department issued its 11thFY2017 in Title XXII of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (P.L. 110-457). According to CRS calculations, obligations for U.S.-funded anti-TIP programs in Latin America totaled roughly $8.4 million in FY2011, with $5.3 million of those funds destined for Haiti. On June 19, 2013, the State Department issued its 13th annual, congressionally mandated report on human trafficking. The report categorizes countries into four “tiers” according to the government’s efforts to combat trafficking. Those countries that do not cooperate in the fight against trafficking (Tier 3) have been made subject to U.S. foreign assistance sanctions. While Cuba and Venezuela are the only Latin American countriesColombia and, for the first time, Nicaragua received the top Tier 1 ranking in this year’s report. While Cuba is the only Latin American country ranked on Tier 3 in this year’s TIP report, sevennine other countries in the region—Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the BahamasGuyana, Haiti, Honduras, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela—are on the Tier 2 Watch List. Unless those countries make significant progress in the next six months progress, they could receive a Tier 3 ranking in the 20122014 report. Activity on combating TIP has continued into the 112th113th Congress, particularly related to efforts to reauthorizethe reauthorization of the TVPA and overseeoversight of TIP programs and operations, including U.S.-funded programs in Latin America. Congress may alsois likely to monitor trends in human trafficking in the region, such as the involvement of organized crime groups in TIP and the problem of child trafficking in Haiti. Congress could consider increasing funding for anti-TIP programs in the region, possibly through the Mérida Initiative for Mexico, the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), or through other assistance programs. For more general information on human trafficking, see CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress, by Alison Siskin and Liana Sun Wyler and CRS Report R42497, Trafficking in Persons: International Dimensions and Foreign Policy Issues for Congress, by or through other assistance programs. Congress is likely to monitor new trends in human trafficking in the region, such as the increasing involvement of Mexican drug trafficking organizations in TIP and the problem of child trafficking in Haiti, which has worsened since that country experienced a devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010. For more general information on human trafficking and a discussion of TIP-related legislation in the 112th Congress, see CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress, by Alison Siskin and Liana Sun Wyler. Congressional Research Service Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Contents Background ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Definition................................................................................................................................... 12 Trafficking vs. Human Smuggling ............................................................................................ 12 Trafficking and Illegal Immigration .......................................................................................... 2 Global Figures on Trafficking ................................................................................................... 3 Human Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean ................................................................. 43 Factors that Contribute to Human Trafficking in the Region .................................................... 4 Child Trafficking ....................................................................................................................... 54 Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation ........................................................................................... 65 Trafficking for Forced Labor ..................................................................................................... 76 Relationship to Organized Crime and Terrorism ....................................................................... 86 Trafficking and HIV/AIDS ........................................................................................................ 87 U.S. Policy ....................................................................................................................................... 97 Anti-Trafficking Legislation ...................................................................................................... 97 Trafficking in Persons Reports and Sanctions: Latin America .................................................. 108 U.S. Government Anti-Trafficking Programs in Latin America................................................ 9 10 Regional and Country Anti-Trafficking Efforts ............................................................................. 1110 Organization of American States ............................................................................................. 1110 Inter-American Development Bank......................................................................................... 1210 Country Efforts: Progress and Remaining Challenges ............................................................ 1210 Issues for Policy Consideration ..................................................................................................... 1311 Sanctions: Are They Useful? ................................................................................................... 1312 How to Measure Success ......................................................................................................... 1412 Enforcement Improvement ...................................................................................................... 14 Forced Labor: Adequacy of Country Efforts 12 Debates About Prostitution and Trafficking ............................................................................ 14 Debates About Prostitution and Trafficking ...13 Forced Labor: Adequacy of Country Efforts ......................................................................... 15 Is U.S. Anti-TIP Assistance for Latin America Sufficient? ..................................................... 15.. 13 Tables Table 1. Latin America and the Relevant International Conventions on Human Trafficking .................................................................................................................................. 1715 Contacts Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 1917 Congressional Research Service Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Background Trafficking in persons (TIP) is a growing problem in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that contains major source, transit, and destination countries for trafficking victims. Major forms of TIP in the region now include commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls, labor trafficking within national borders (including child labor), and the trafficking of illegal immigrants in Mexico and Central America. Latin America is a primary source region for people that are trafficked to the United States, as well as for victims trafficked to Western Europe and Japan. As many as 17,500 are trafficked into the United States each year, according to State Department estimates.1 Latin America is also a transit region for Asian victims destined for the United States, Canada, and Europe. Some of the wealthier countries in the region (such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Panama, and Mexico) also serve as TIP destinations. This report describes the nature and scope of the problem of trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean.2 It then describes U.S. efforts to deal with trafficking in persons in the region, as well as discusses the successes and failures of some recent country and regional anti-trafficking efforts. The report concludes by raising issues that may be helpful for the 112th Congress to consider as it continues to address human trafficking as part of its authorization, appropriations, and oversight activities. considered to be one of today’s leading criminal enterprises and is believed to affect virtually all countries around the globe. Despite limited data on the nature and severity of the problem, the U.S. government has cited estimates that some 27 million men, women, and children may be victims of trafficking at any given time.1 In 2012, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that there were some 20.9 million victims of forced labor at any given point in the period 2002-2011, including trafficking victims.2 The accuracy of these and other estimates, however, is difficult to assess given the clandestine nature of the crime. Internal trafficking generally flows from rural to urban or tourist centers within a given country, while trafficking across international borders generally flows from developing to developed nations. Countries are generally described as source, transit, or destination countries for TIP victims. Many experts conclude that a country is more likely to become a source of human trafficking if it has recently experienced political upheaval, armed conflict, economic crisis, or natural disaster. For example, the hundreds of thousands of Haitian children who were orphaned or abandoned after a catastrophic earthquake hit that country in January 2010 proved vulnerable to trafficking.3 Studies have found that human trafficking disproportionately affects women and girls. A 2012 U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study found that, on average, 55%-65% of human trafficking victims are women and 27% are minors.4 The ILO has estimated that women and girls account for 40% of victims in forced economic exploitation, such as domestic service, agricultural work, and manufacturing—and 98% of victims in forced commercial sexual exploitation.5 The vulnerability of women and girls is due to a number of factors in source, transit, and destination countries.6 This report describes the nature and scope of the problem of trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean. It then describes U.S. efforts to deal with trafficking in persons in the region, as well as discusses the successes and failures of some recent country and regional antitrafficking efforts. The report concludes by raising issues that may be helpful for the 113th Congress to consider as it continues to address human trafficking as part of its authorization, appropriations, and oversight activities. 1 U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, June 2013, available at: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/. Hereinafter: TIP Report, June 2013. 2 International Labor Organization (ILO), ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Results and Methodology, 2012, available at: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--declaration/documents/publication/wcms_182004.pdf. Hereinafter: ILO, 2012. 3 United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Children in Haiti: One Year After—The Long Road from Relief to Recovery, January 2011. In response, the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons provided $4.8 million in grants in FY2011 to organizations working to combat human trafficking in Haiti. 4 UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 2012, available at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-andanalysis/glotip/Trafficking_in_Persons_2012_web.pdf. Hereinafter: UNODC, 2012. 5 ILO, 2012. 6 U.S. Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G-TIP), “Fact Sheet: Gender Imbalance in Human Trafficking,” June 16, 2009. Congressional Research Service 1 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Definition Severe forms of trafficking in persons have been defined in U.S. law as “sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or ... the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”37 Most members of the international community agree that the trafficking term applies to all cases of this nature involving minors whether a child was taken forcibly or voluntarily. Trafficking in persons does not require the movement of victims from one place to another. Trafficking vs. Human Smuggling In 2000, the United Nations drafted two protocols, known as the Palermo Protocols, to deal with trafficking in persons and human smuggling.48 Trafficking in persons is often confused with human smuggling. This confusion has been particularly common among Latin American officials.5 Alien smuggling involves the provision of a service, generally procurement of 1 This figure was cited in the U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2006, June 5, 2006. More recent TIP reports do not include estimates of the number of people trafficked into the United States. 2 For more general information on human trafficking, see CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress. 3 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) (P.L. 106-386). 4 The United Nations Convention Against Organized Crime and Its Protocols, available at http://www.unodc.org/ unodc/en/crime_cicp_convention.html. 5 The most accurate phrase in Spanish for referring to human trafficking is la trata de personas (the trade of people), rather than the commonly used phrase el tráfico de personas (the traffic of people), which means something akin to human smuggling. See: U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, June 2009, available at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/. Congressional Research Service 1 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean 9 Alien smuggling involves the provision of a service, generally procurement of transport, to people who knowingly consent to that service in order to gain illegal entry into a foreign country. It ends with the arrival of the migrant at his or her destination. The Trafficking Protocol considers people who have been trafficked, who are assumed to be primarily women and children, as “victims” who are entitled to protection and a broad range of social services from governments. In contrast, the Smuggling Protocol considers people who have been smuggled as willing participants in a criminal activity who should be given “humane treatment and full protection of their rights” while being returned to their country of origin.610 Many observers contend that smuggling is a “crime against the state” and that smuggled migrants should be immediately deported, while trafficking is a “crime against a person” whose victims deserve to be given government assistance and protection. The Department of Justice asserts that the existence of “force, fraud, or coercion” is what distinguishes trafficking from human smuggling.711 Under U.S. immigration law, a trafficked migrant is a victim, while an illegal alien who consents to be smuggled is complicit in a criminal activity and may therefore be subject to prosecution and deportation. Trafficking and Illegal Immigration Incidences of human trafficking are often affected by migration flows, particularly when those flows are illegal and unregulated. In recent years, several factors have influenced emigration 7 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) (P.L. 106-386). The United Nations Convention Against Organized Crime and Its Protocols, available at http://www.unodc.org/ unodc/en/crime_cicp_convention.html. 9 The most accurate phrase in Spanish for referring to human trafficking is la trata de personas (the trade of people), rather than the commonly used phrase el tráfico de personas (the traffic of people), which means something akin to human smuggling. See: U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, June 2009, available at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/. 10 http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime_cicp_convention.html. 11 U.S. Department of Justice, Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, “Fact Sheet: Distinctions Between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking,” January 2005. 8 Congressional Research Service 2 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean flows from Latin America and the Caribbean. Whereas a large percentage of emigrants from Latin America during the 1980s were refugees fleeing from the conflicts in Central America, a majority of the region’s more recent emigrants have been economic migrants in search of better paying jobs in developed countries.8 12 Increasing crime and violence have also fueled illegal emigration, particularly from Central America. Primary destination countries for Latin American immigrants have included the United States, Spain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Britain, and the United Statesand Britain. These countries, many with low birth rates and aging populations, have come to rely on migrant laborers from Latin America to fill low-paying jobs in agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and domestic service. At the same time, concerns about security and other issues related to absorbing large numbers of foreign-born populations have led many developed countries to tighten their immigration policies. These factors have led to a global rise in illegal immigration. In the Western Hemisphere, illegal migration flows have been most evident in Mexico, particularly along its 1,951-mile northern border with the United States and its southern border with Guatemala (596 miles) and Belize (155 miles). Between 2002 and 2005, for example, the number of non-Mexican illegal migrants apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border more than tripled.9 Since 2007, however, both the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants entering the United States from Latin American countries other than Mexico and the size of the unauthorized population from those countries living in the United States have declined. The size of the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population living in the United States appears to have leveled off rather than declined, even though Mexico usually deports more than 100,000 Central American migrants en route to the United States each year. Nevertheless, while unauthorized migration flows from Mexico to the United States have decreased since mid-decade.10 6 http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime_cicp_convention.html. U.S. Department of Justice, Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, “Fact Sheet: Distinctions Between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking,” January 2005. 8 There are several exceptions to this general rule, including emigrants fleeing from Cuba and Colombia. 9 “Life on a Trouble Frontier,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 4, 2006. 10 Jeffrey S. Passel and D'Vera Cohn, U.S. Unauthorized Immigration Flows Are Down Sharply Since Mid-Decade, (continued...) 7 Congressional Research Service 2 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean United States have decreased significantly since the mid-2000s, flows from Central America have increased in recent years.13 As U.S. immigration and border restrictions have tightened, illegal immigrants have increasingly turned to smugglers to lead them through Mexico and across the U.S.-Mexico border. In order to avoid detection by U.S. border patrol agents, smuggling routes have become more dangerous and therefore more costly. Some smugglers have sold undocumented migrants into situations of forced labor or prostitution in order to recover their costs. Recent studies illustrate how illegal immigrants transiting Mexico, many of whom lack legal protection because of their immigration status, have become increasingly vulnerable to human trafficking and other abuses.1114 An increasing percentage of abuses, the most violent case of which resulted in the mass murder of 72 U.S.-bound migrants in Tamaulipas in late August 2010, have been perpetrated by criminal gangs and drug traffickers, sometimes with assistance from public officials.12 Global Figures on Trafficking TIP is considered to be one of today’s leading criminal enterprises and is believed to affect virtually all countries around the globe. Despite limited data on the nature and severity of the problem, the U.S. government has estimated that roughly 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year.13 If trafficking within countries is included in the total world figures, official U.S. estimates are that 2 million to 4 million people are trafficked annually. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that there are at least 2.4 million trafficked persons at any given moment, generating profits as high as $32 billion (USD).14 The accuracy of these and other estimates, however, has been questioned. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in 2006 casting doubt on the methodology and reliability of official U.S. government figures. It concluded that the “U.S. government has not yet established an effective mechanism for estimating the number of victims or for conducting ongoing analysis of trafficking related data.”15 Figures provided by other international organizations are unlikely to be any more accurate. Trafficking in persons affects nearly every country and region in the world. Internal trafficking generally flows from rural to urban or tourist centers within a given country, while trafficking across international borders generally flows from developing to developed nations. Countries are generally described as source, transit, or destination countries for TIP victims. Many experts conclude that a country is more likely to become a source of human trafficking if it has recently experienced political upheaval, armed conflict, economic crisis, or natural disaster. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and others have warned that the hundreds of thousands of (...continued) Pew Hispanic Center, Washington, D.C., September 2010. 1115 Human Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean Human trafficking is a growing problem in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that contains major source, transit, and destination countries for trafficking victims. Major forms of TIP in the region include commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, labor trafficking within national borders and among countries in the region (particularly in South America), and the trafficking of illegal immigrants in Mexico and Central America. According to UNODC, the share of victims trafficked for forced labor in the region (44%) is higher than in other Europe and 12 There are several exceptions to this general rule, including emigrants fleeing from Cuba and Colombia. Randal C. Archibold, “In Trek North, First Lure is Mexico’s Other Line,” New York Times, April 26, 2013. 14 Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH), Informe Especial Sobre Secuestro de Migrantes en México, February 2011. 12 Amnesty International, Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico, April 2010. 13 U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2008. Notably, the estimate of 600,000 to 800,000 people trafficked across borders each year is from 2003. 14 International Labor Organization (ILO), “ILO Action against Trafficking in Human Beings,” 2008. 15 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Human Trafficking: Better Data, Strategy, and Reporting Needed to Enhance U.S. Antitrafficking Efforts Abroad, 06-825R, July 2006. Congressional Research Service 3 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Haitian children who were orphaned or abandoned after a catastrophic earthquake hit that country in January 2010 are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.16 Studies have found that human trafficking disproportionately affects women and girls. A 2009 U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study found that, on average, 65%-75% of human trafficking victims are women and 15%-25% are minors.17 The ILO estimates women and girls account for 56% of victims in forced economic exploitation, such as domestic service, agricultural work, and manufacturing—and 98% of victims in forced commercial sexual exploitation.18 The vulnerability of women and girls is due to a number of factors in source, transit, and destination countries.19 Human Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean Human trafficking is a growing problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. IOM has estimated that sex trafficking in Latin America generates some $16 billion worth of business annually.20 Internal trafficking for forced and child labor is widespread in many countries in the region. In addition, the U.S. State Department has identified several countries as major source, transit, and destination countries for victims of transnational TIP. Those countries include: • Source countries: Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Paraguay • Transit countries: All of Central America and the Caribbean • Destination countries: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Netherland Antilles, Panama, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.2115 Amnesty International, Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico, April 2010. 13 Congressional Research Service 3 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Central Asia.16 Latin America is a primary source region for people that are trafficked to the United States and Canada. It is also a transit region for Asian victims destined for the United States, Canada, and Europe. Some of the wealthier countries in the region (such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Panama, and Mexico) also serve as destination countries. Factors that Contribute to Human Trafficking in the Region Both individual factors and outside circumstances contribute to human trafficking within and from Latin America and the Caribbean. Individual risk factors include poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, a history of physical or sexual abuse, homelessness, drug use, and gang membership. The The IOM in Colombia has identified someother personal characteristics common among trafficking victims. These include a tendency to take risks in order to fulfill one’s goals, a focus on short16 United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Children of Haiti: Milestones and Looking Forward at Six Months, July 2010; Gerardo Reyes and Jacqueline Charles, “Trafficking, Sexual Exploitation of Haitian Children in the Dominican Republic on the Rise,” Miami Herald, October 23. 2010. 17 UNODC and the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UNGIFT), Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, February 2009. 18 ILO, A Global Alliance Against Forced Labor, 2005. 19 U.S. Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G-TIP), “Fact Sheet: Gender Imbalance in Human Trafficking,” June 16, 2009. 20 “Sex Trafficking Now a $16 Billion Business in Latin America,” EFE, January 3, 2007. 21 U.S. Department of State, G-TIP, Power Point Presentation from Briefing on TIP in the Western Hemisphere, July 2009. Congressional Research Service 4 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean termshortterm rewards that may result from short-term risks, and a lack of familial support and/or strong social networks.2217 These risk factors that may “push” an individual towards accepting a risky job proposition in another country have been compounded by “pull” factors, including the hope of finding economic opportunity abroad, which is fueled by television and internet images of wealth in the United States and Europe. Outside factors contributing to human trafficking include the following: (1) the high global demand for domestic servants, agricultural laborers, sex workers, and factory labor; (2) political, social, or economic crises, as well as natural disasters occurring in particular countries, such as the recentJanuary 2010 earthquake in Haiti; (3) lingering machismo (chauvinistic attitudes and practices) that tends to lead to discrimination against women and girls; (4) existence of established trafficking networks with sophisticated recruitment methods; (5) public corruption, especially complicity between law enforcement and border agents with traffickers and alien smugglers; (6) restrictive immigration policies in some destination countries that have limited the opportunities for legal migration flows to occur; (7) government disinterest in the issue of human trafficking; and (8) limited economic opportunities for women in Latin America. Although women have achieved the same (or higher) educational levels as men in many countries, women’s employment continues to be concentrated in low-wage, informal sector jobs. Child Trafficking There is considerably less research on the extent and nature of trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean than there is on Asia and Europe. Most of the research that does exist has focused, at least until recently, on trafficking in children for sexual exploitation. Trafficking of children for sexual exploitation is most common in countries that are both popular tourist destinations and centers of sex tourism.23 This problem is exacerbated by the fact that most countries in the region have legislation establishing (on average) 14 years of age as the legal age of consent to work. The available data show that the number of children (girls and boys) sexually exploited in the region is increasing while the average age of exploited children is decreasing.24 Although street18 Street and orphaned children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking into the sex industry, a large percentage ofalthough some children who have been trafficked remain living with their families and engage in commercial sex activity in order to contribute to household income. One study of child prostitutes in El Salvador found that 57% of those interviewed lived with their parents or other close relatives.25 household income. Other factors associated with children at risk of trafficking include: poverty, 16 UNODC, 2012. poverty, infrequent school attendance, physical or sexual abuse, drug or alcohol addiction, and involvement in a criminal youth gang. In addition to sexual exploitation, Latin American children have been trafficked for illegal adoptions, for use as soldiers in armed conflict, and to work for organized criminal groups. 22 Sanin et al., “Condiciones de Vulnerabilidad a la Trata de Personas en Colombia,” IOM, 2005. 18 The State Department has identified Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua as countries with significant child sex tourism industries. G-TIP, Power Point Presentation from Briefing on TIP in the Western Hemisphere, July 2009. 24 Pamela Coffey et al., Literature Review of Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean, Development Alternatives, Inc (DAI) for the U.S. Agency for International Development, August 2004. 25 Zoila Gonzalez de Innocenti, Explotación Sexual Comercial de Niñas y Adolescentes: Una Evaluación Rápida, ILO/IPEC, 2002. 2317 Congressional Research Service 5 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Guatemala has been among the largest source countries of children kidnapped and trafficked internationally for adoption.26 The Colombian government has estimated that, although more than 3,000 child soldiers have been disarmed and demobilized, another 6,000 Colombian children may still be working as combatants for paramilitary and guerrilla groups.27 In addition to the recruitment of child solders for armed conflict, some countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, are facing increasing instances of youth trafficked by drug gangs into urban warfare4 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean infrequent school attendance, physical or sexual abuse, drug or alcohol addiction, and involvement in a criminal youth gang. Children are also trafficked both internally and across international borders for use as domestic servants. State Department officials have estimated that as many as 1 million children work as may work as domestic servants in Latin America, many of whom are vulnerable to verbal, physical, and sexual sexual abuse.28 Abuse has been particularly evident among the 225,000 or so restaveks (child domestic servants) in Haiti and among the thousands of Haitian restaveks living and working in the Dominican Republic.29hundreds of thousands of child domestic servants in Haiti.19 Latin American children have been trafficked for illegal adoptions, for use as soldiers in armed conflict, and to work for organized criminal groups. Finally, the ILO and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) have documented instances from across the region of children forced to work under dangerous circumstances in agricultural or mining industries. For example, a September 20092012 DOL report found continued evidence of the use of child labor in the production of a wide range of goods in many countries in Latin America. Examples of some of the goods cited in that report include bricks, gold, coffee, sugarcane, and other agro-export crops.30 other agroexport crops.20 While a 2010 ILO global report estimated that the number of child laborers had declined slightly in Latin America as compared to 2006, it still estimated that some 14 million children in the region worked, 9.4 million under hazardous conditions.3121 Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation While trafficking for forced labor is a serious problem in Latin America and the Caribbean, trafficking for sexual exploitation has, until recently, been perceived as a more widespread and pressing regional problem. Most victims are trafficked for prostitution, but others are used for pornography and stripping. Children tend to be trafficked within their own countries, while young women may be trafficked internally or internationally, sometimes with the consent of their husbands or other family members. One study estimated that some 10,000 women from southern and central Mexico are trafficked for sexual exploitation to the northern border region each year.32 The State 22 In the past, State Department hasofficials have estimated that at least 100,000 Latin Americans are trafficked internationally 26 The Guatemalan government has taken steps to reduce illegal international adoptions from Guatemala since signing the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption in 2007. 27 This estimate, cited in the State Department’s 2009 TIP report, is substantially lower than an estimate cited in the 2004 Child Soldiers Global Report published by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. That report found that some 11,000 to 14,000 Colombian youth had been forcibly recruited as child soldiers. For information on the Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration program in Colombia, see Care International, “Overcoming Lost Childhoods,” January 2008. 28 Interview with representative from the Global Office to Monitor Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, September 29, 2005. 29 U.S. Department of State, TIP Report, June 2010. 30 trafficked internationally each year, with large numbers of victims coming from Colombia and the Dominican Republic, among others.23 There are also intra-regional trafficking problems. A 2005 report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) asserts that the Caribbean’s relatively open borders, lax enforcement of entertainment visa and work permit rules, and legalized prostitution have contributed to the problem of trafficking there.24 Argentina and Brazil are destination countries 19 U.S. Department of State, TIP Report, June 2013. U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), The DOL’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, September 2009. 312012, available at: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/2012TVPRA.pdf. 21 ILO, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), Accelerating Action Against Child Labour: ILO Global Report on Child Labour, May 2010. 3222 Arun Kumar Acharya, “Tráfico de mujeres hacia la Zona Metropolitana de Monterrey: Una Perspectiva Analítica,” Revista Espacios Públicos, Year 12, No. 24, 2009. Congressional Research Service 6 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean each year, with large numbers of victims coming from Colombia and the Dominican Republic, among others. It has identified Spain, Italy, Portugal, the United States, and Japan as major destination countries for Latin American trafficking victims.33 There are also intra-regional trafficking problems. A 2005 report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) asserts that the Caribbean’s relatively open borders, lax enforcement of entertainment visa and work permit rules, and legalized prostitution have contributed to the problem of trafficking there.34 Argentina and Brazil are destination countries 23 U.S. Department of State, G-TIP, Power Point Presentation from Briefing on TIP in the Western Hemisphere, July 2009. 24 “Exploratory Assessment of Trafficking in Persons in the Caribbean Region,” IOM, June 2005. 20 Congressional Research Service 5 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean for women trafficked from the Andes and Caribbean countries like the Dominican Republic. Panama has been a destination for women from Colombia and Central America trafficked to work in the sex industry. Trafficking has also occurred at border crossings throughout Central America and Mexico, especially the Mexico-Guatemala border, as undocumented women who have not been able to get to the United States end up being forced into prostitution. Trafficking for Forced Labor The ILO reports that trafficking victims comprise 20% (or 250,000) of the 1.3some 1.8 million people in Latin America are engaged in forced labor., including TIP victims.25 These numbers do not include the increasing numbers of Latin Latin Americans who have ended up in situations of forced labor after migrating to Europe or the United States. Despite the relatively large number of victims trafficked for forced labor in the region, there are relatively few studies on this topic. Since 1995, the Brazilian government has rescued more than 36,000 laborers from situations of forced labor.35 In Brazil, forced labor is most common in isolated, rural areas. Despite government efforts, more than 25,000 Brazilian men are still being held in situations of slave labor on Until recently, more forced labor victims had been identified in South America and some parts of the Caribbean than in Central America. In Brazil, forced labor is most common in rural areas on cattle ranches, in logging and mining camps, and on plantations where soy beans, corn, and cotton are produced. In recent years, many of the workers freed by the Brazilian government from slave-like working conditions have been employed at plantations growing sugarcane, some of which is used for ethanol production.36 and cotton are produced. Forced labor is also used in the mahogany, brick-making, and gold-mining industries in the Amazonian regions of Peru. In 2005, the ILO reported that more than 30,000 people work as forced laborers in Peruvian logging camps that produce mahogany, roughly 95% of which was exported illegally. Press reports have recently revealed that slave and child labor is also a major problem in several of the 2,000 or so gold mines in the Peruvian Amazon Amazonian regions of Peru and Ecuador. Indigenous peoples in Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay are particularly at risk of being trafficked for forced labor.37 Each 33 U.S. Department of State, G-TIP, Power Point Presentation from Briefing on TIP in the Western Hemisphere, July 2009. 34 “Exploratory Assessment of Trafficking in Persons in the Caribbean Region,” IOM, June 2005. 35 The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines forced labor as any situation in which work is carried out involuntarily under the menace of a penalty. The terms “forced labor” and “slave labor” are often used interchangeably. For a description of the extent of forced labor in Brazil and the country’s efforts to combat it, see Patricia Trindade Maranhão Costa, “Fighting Forced Labor: The Example of Brazil,” ILO Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, 2009; U.S. Department of State, TIP Report, June 2011. 36 Repórter Brasil, “Brazil of Biofuels: Sugarcane 2008,” January 2009. 37 For information on ILO research and programs in these countries, see http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/Projects/lang-en/WCMS_082040/index.htm. See also “U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Calls for Urgent Action to Stop Forced Labor in Bolivia, Paraguay,” Targeted News Service, August 31, 2009. Trip reports available at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/. Congressional Research Service 7 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean 26 Each year, thousands of migrants flock from Haiti to the Dominican Republic to work in the construction, tourism, and agriculture industries, as well as in the informal sector. Many of those migrants lack proper documentation, rendering them vulnerable to trafficking and other abuses. In the past few years, the Department of Justice has prosecuted an increasingly large volume of cases of foreigners trafficked into forced labor in the United States. Although the majority of these cases have involved trafficking for prostitution, a significant number have involved the agricultural sector. Annually some 1.5 million seasonal farm workers, mostly from Latin America and the Caribbean, plant and harvest produce in the United States. Low wages, harsh working conditions, and a lack of legal protection, combined with an ever increasing demand for cheap labor, have resulted in growing numbers of forced labor abuses. Relationship to Organized Crime and Terrorism In many parts of the world, trafficking in money, weapons, and people is largely conducted by criminal gangs or mafia groups. Human trafficking can be a lucrative way for organized criminal groups to fund other illicit activities. In Latin America,Guatemala, relatively large crime groups are transporting women from other countries—primarily from other countries in Central America—for sexual exploitation.27 Mexican drug trafficking organizations, particularly Los Zetas, have been increasingly involved in the smuggling and trafficking of people as well as drugs.38 According to the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC), criminal gangs from Mexico, Central America, Russia, Japan, Ukraine and several other countries have been caught attempting to traffic victims across the U.S.-Mexico border. During congressional testimony, one expert on security issues in Latin America identified human trafficking as the second most serious organized criminal threat to Central America (behind drug trafficking).39 25 ILO, 2012. For information on ILO research and programs in these countries, see http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/Projects/lang-en/WCMS_082040/index.htm. See also “U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Calls for Urgent Action to Stop Forced Labor in Bolivia, Paraguay,” Targeted News Service, August 31, 2009. Trip reports available at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/. 27 Alejandra Gutierrez Valdizan, “Of Slaves and Serfs: Guatemala's 'Occupied' Bodies,” InSight Crime Organized Crime in the Americas, October 28, 2012; Oscar Martinez, “Men who Sold Women: Human Trafficking Networks in Central America,” InSight Crime Organized Crime in the Americas, October 28, 2012. 26 Congressional Research Service 6 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean increasingly involved in the smuggling and trafficking of people.28 According to the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC), criminal gangs from Mexico, Central America, Russia, Japan, Ukraine, and several other countries have been caught attempting to traffic victims across the U.S.-Mexico border. During congressional testimony, one expert on security issues in Latin America identified human trafficking as the second-most serious organized criminal threat to Central America (behind drug trafficking).29 Some analysts maintain that criminals involved in human trafficking could eventually form ties with terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda, thereby threatening regional security, although there has been no evidence of this to date. They argue that, just as terrorists have engaged in drug trafficking in Colombia and the Tri-Border region (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay), they may increasingly turn to human trafficking to fund their networks and operations. Others contend that trafficking is a type of “disorganized crime” in which traffickers are generally individuals or small groups that collaborate on an ad-hoc basis, rather than a big business controlled by organized crime. Trafficking and HIV/AIDS One of the serious public health effects of human trafficking is the risk of victims contracting and transmitting HIV/AIDS and other diseases. On the global level, women engaged in prostitution, whether voluntarily or not, have a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Some experts have noted that human trafficking may be linked to the spread and mutation of the AIDS virus. Research in Latin America and the Caribbean has shown that trafficking victims, along with other irregular migrants, are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Factors that put these groups at risk include poverty, discrimination, exploitation, lack of legal protection and education, cultural biases, and limited access to health services. 38 Melissa Graham, “Mexico’s New War: Sex Trafficking,” La Prensa San Diego, October 29, 2010; Tim Johnson, Mexican Criminal Gang Turns to Migrant Smuggling,” McClatchy-Tribune News Service, August 15, 2011. 39 Testimony of Eric L. Olson, Senior Advisor, Security Initiative, Woodrow Wilson Center, before the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, October 1, 2009. Congressional Research Service 8 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean U.S. Policy Anti-Trafficking Legislation40 U.S. Policy Anti-Trafficking Legislation30 Anti-TIP efforts have accelerated in the United States since the enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, P.L. 106-386). The TVPA established minimum standards to combat human trafficking applicable to countries that have a significant trafficking problem and authorized U.S. international anti-TIP assistance. The act directed the Secretary of State to provide an annual report by June 1, listing countries that do and do not comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. In the report, the act directed the Secretary to rank countries on the basis of their efforts to combat TIP, with Tier 1 as the best countries and Tier 3 as the worst. Tier 3 are the countries whose governments are deemed as not fully complying with the minimum standards and not making significant efforts to do so. The TVPA called for the United States to withhold non-humanitarian assistance and instructed the U.S. executive director of each multilateral development bank and the International Monetary Fund to vote against non-humanitarian assistance to Tier 3 countries, unless continued assistance is deemed to be in the U.S. national 28 Tim Johnson, Mexican Criminal Gang Turns to Migrant Smuggling,” McClatchy-Tribune News Service, August 15, 2011; Paris Martinez, “How Mexico’s Zetas Enslave Engineers,” InSight Crime Organized Crime in the Americas, October 28, 2012. 29 Testimony of Eric L. Olson, Senior Advisor, Security Initiative, Woodrow Wilson Center, before the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, October 1, 2009. 30 For a complete history of U.S. anti-TIP legislation and current legislation on human trafficking in the 112th Congress, see CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress, by Alison Siskin and Liana Sun Wyler. Congressional Research Service 7 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean countries. Tier 3 are the countries whose governments are deemed as not fully complying with the minimum standards and not making significant efforts to do so. The TVPA called for the United States to withhold non-humanitarian assistance and instructed the U.S. executive director of each multilateral development bank and the International Monetary Fund to vote against nonhumanitarian assistance to Tier 3 countries, unless continued assistance is deemed to be in the U.S. national interest. Congress is continuously re-evaluating the efficacy of U.S. anti-trafficking laws and programs, and since 2000, has reauthorized the TVPA several times. In 2003, for example, Congress approved the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2003 (P.L. 108193). The TVPRA of 2003 refined and expanded the “minimum standards” for the elimination of trafficking that governments must meet and created a “Tier 2 Watch List” of countries that the Secretary of State determined were to get special scrutiny in the coming year. Most recently, the 110th Congress passed the The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-457). P.L. 110-457 authorized appropriations for FY2008 through FY2011 for the TVPA as amended and established a system to monitor and evaluate all assistance under the act. P.L. 110-457 requires the establishment of an integrated database to be used by U.S. agencies to collect data for analysis on TIP. In addition, it increased the technical assistance and other support to help foreign governments inspect locations where forced labor occurs, register vulnerable populations, and provide more protection to foreign migrant workers. P.L. 110-457 added a new requirement that Tier 2 Watch List countries must be dropped to the Tier 3 category after two consecutive years on the Tier 2 Watch List, unless the President issues a waiver.41 In addition, among other measures to address the issue of child soldiers, the act prohibits military assistance to foreign governments that recruit and use child soldiers. 40 For a complete history of U.S. anti-TIP legislation and current legislation on human trafficking in the 112th Congress, see CRS Report RL34317, Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress, by Alison Siskin and Liana Sun Wyler. 41 Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-457) added a new requirement that Tier 2 Watch List countries must be dropped to the Tier 3 category after two consecutive years on the Tier 2 Watch List, unless the President issues a waiver.31 Most recently, the TVPA was reauthorized through FY2017 when Congress enacted the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (P.L. 110-457). Trafficking in Persons Reports and Sanctions: Latin America On June 19, 2013, the State Department issued its 13th annual report on human trafficking, Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), June 2013, as mandated by the TVPA (P.L. 106-386 as amended). The 2013 TIP report ranks 187 countries and territories, including the United States. The report also discusses human trafficking in Somalia, a “special case” country where insufficient information was available to provide a tier ranking. As in previous years, most Latin American countries fall somewhere in the middle of the tier rankings, with 18 countries on Tier 2, and 9 on the Tier 2 Watch List (see Table 1). Cuba is the only Latin American country identified as Tier 332 and made subject to possible U.S. traffickingrelated sanctions, while Colombia and Nicaragua are the only countries in the region to earn a Tier 1 ranking. Nicaragua earned its first Tier 1 ranking by securing 35 TIP convictions, more than the rest of Central America combined.33 Countries on the Tier 2 Watch List include Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.34 The Bahamas and Ecuador upgraded their tier rankings, whereas Guyana and Honduras were downgraded. 31 Such a waiver permits the President to waive the Tier 3 listing for up to two years. In exercising this waiver authority, the President must determine that such a waiver is justified because the country has a “"written plan”" to start making “"significant efforts”" to comply with the TVPA’'s minimum standards to combat TIP, and because the country has committed “"sufficient resources” to implement the plan. Congressional Research Service 9 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Trafficking in Persons Reports and Sanctions: Latin America On June 27, 2011, the State Department issued its 11th annual report on human trafficking, Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), June 2011, as mandated by the TVPA (P.L. 106-386 as amended). The 2011 TIP report is more comprehensive than prior reports, ranking 181 countries as compared to 177 countries in the 2010 report. As in the 2010 report, it provides a description and ranking of U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking. The report also discusses trafficking in persons in three “special case” countries— Cote D’Ivoire, Haiti, and Somalia—where sufficient information was not available to provide a ranking. As in previous years, most Latin American countries fall somewhere in the middle of the tier rankings, with 19 countries on Tier 2, and seven on the Tier 2 Watch List. Cuba and the Venezuela are the only two Latin American countries identified as Tier 342 and made subject to possible U.S. trafficking-related sanctions, while Colombia is the only country in the region to earn a Tier 1 ranking. Countries on the Tier 2 Watch List include: Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Bahamas.43 Belize, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, and Nicaragua upgraded their tier rankings, whereas Bahamas, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela were downgraded. On September 13, 2010" to implement the plan. 32 The other Tier 3 countries include: Algeria, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. 33 CRS interview with State Department official, June 26, 2013. 34 The State Department must submit an interim report by February 2014 on the Tier 2 Watch List countries in advance of the next TIP report. Congressional Research Service 8 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean On September 14, 2012, President Obama issued his determination on whether to impose aid restrictions during FY2011FY2013 on the 13 listed Tier 3 countries from the 2010 TIP report, issued in June.44 The 17 countries ranked as Tier 3 in the 2012 TIP report.35 The President has the option to (1) apply a full prohibition against nonhumanitarian and nontrade-related nontraderelated foreign assistance, (2) withhold a portion of aid eligible for restriction by granting partial waivers, or (3) waive the restrictions entirely on the basis of national interest reasons. For FY2011 the President determined that nonhumanitarian and nontrade-related foreign assistance would be fully withheld from two countries: Eritrea and North Korea. Four countries were granted by the President partial waivers from the aid prohibitions: Burma, Cuba, Iran, and Zimbabwe. Seven countries—the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan—were granted by the President full waivers from the aid prohibitions. The President determined that it remained in the U.S. national interest to continue nonhumanitarian and nontrade-related foreign assistance to these countries For FY2013 the President granted partial waivers from the aid prohibitions for all of the Tier 3 countries, including Cuba. U.S. Government Anti-Trafficking Programs in Latin America In FY2010FY2011, the U.S. government obligated approximately $85.3 million in anti-trafficking assistance to foreign governments worldwide, up from the $83.7 million obligated in FY2009. . Roughly 20% ($17.110% ($8.4 million) of U.S. international anti-TIP funding supported projects in Latin America. Anti-trafficking programs are administered by a variety of U.S. agencies, primarily the 42 The other Tier 3 countries include: Algeria, Burma, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Micronesia, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. 43 The State Department must submit an interim report by February 2012 on the Tier 2 Watch List countries in advance of the next TIP report. 44 Barack Obama, "Presidential Determination With Respect To Foreign Governments' Efforts Regarding Trafficking In Persons," Presidential Determination 2010-15, September 13, 2010. Congressional Research Service 10 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean variety of U.S. agencies, primarily the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Labor. The majority of the programs are either regional, or directed at countries that were placed on either Tier 3 or the Tier 2 Watch-list in recent TIP reports reports. In FY2011, 63% of U.S. anti-TIP funds obligated supported programs in Haiti. Whereas regional programs in Latin America support initiatives necessary to address the crosscutting nature of human trafficking, bilateral programs aim to help governments solve specific challenges they have had in addressing human trafficking. For example, anti-trafficking programs in the Dominican Republic are focusing on victim identification, establishing a shelter for TIP victims, and training officials from the Attorney General’s office and the judiciary on how to investigate and prosecute TIP cases. Three complementary programs in Argentina are helping develop specialized anti-TIP police units in certain provinces, train prosecutors and judges on how to secure testimony from TIP victims, and improve victim assistance programs. An anti-TIP Haiti are helping to strengthen Haitian child protection agencies’ ability to identify and rescue child trafficking victims. Since the 2010 earthquake, more than 600 child TIP victims have been identified with U.S. assistance. An anti-TIP program in Mexico supports a Resident Legal Advisor who is helping reconstruct the antitraffickinganti-trafficking unit within the Attorney General’s Office and train Mexican officials on how to investigate and prosecute TIP cases. In addition to foreign aid programs, various agencies within the Department of Homeland Security are stepping up joint efforts with Mexican officials to identify, arrest, and prosecute human trafficking and smuggling rings that operate along the U.S.-Mexico border and beyond. In August 2005, the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in DHS created a new program, the “Operation Against Smugglers (and Traffickers) Initiative on Safety and Security” (OASISS), aimed at strengthening cooperation with Mexican officials to crack down on these types of criminal groups. (OASISS), a bilateral program that enables Mexican alien smugglers and traffickers apprehended in the United States who cannot be tried in this country to be prosecuted in Mexico. From the time of its inception in 2005 through the end of FY2011, OASISS generated 2,617 cases, but it is unclear how many of those cases were successfully prosecuted.36 Various units within the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights and Criminal Division have provided training and technical assistance courses to foreign officials in the United States and overseas. For example, the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) has helped several countries, including Brazil and Mexico, draft TIP-related legislation. OPDAT’s technical assistance and training in investigating TIP cases helped Mexican officials secure their first arrestsconvictions under the country’s new anti-TIP law in December 2009. 35 Barack Obama, "Presidential Determination With Respect To Foreign Governments' Efforts Regarding Trafficking In Persons," Presidential Determination, September 14, 2012. 36 Data provided to CRS by U.S. Border Patrol in an email, 10/17/2011. Congressional Research Service 9 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Regional and Country Anti-Trafficking Efforts Organization of American States OAS efforts to combat trafficking in persons began in 1999 when the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) co-sponsored a research study on trafficking in persons in nine countries in Latin America that offered broad recommendations for its elimination. In 2003 and 2004, the OAS General Assembly passed two resolutions on the subject, the latter of which created an OAS Coordinator on the Issue of Trafficking in Persons, originally based in the CIM and now part of the Department for the Prevention of Threats to Public Security. Since 2005, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unitof Public Security within the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security of the OAS. On a technical level, since 2005, the OAS has organized, facilitated, and implemented training training programs, promoted anti-trafficking policies, and provided opportunities for the exchange of information and best practices to assist OAS Member Statesmember states in their anti-TIP efforts. The unitOAS has developed several “tool-kits” and capacity-building programs for peacekeeping personnel, parliamentarians, law enforcement officials, migration officers, and consular and diplomatic representatives to prevent trafficking and to identify and protect victims of human trafficking. In recent years, the program trained Congressional Research Service 11 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean more than 550 government officials from Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. During 20082009, the unit trained over 350 United Nations peacekeeping trainers, military, and civilian police personnel from the region on anti-TIP efforts prior to their deployment. As a self-sustaining program, the Train-the-Trainers Peacekeeping Project continues to train military and civilian police prior to deployment in peacekeeping missions throughout the world. Inter-American Development Bank In 2004, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) formed an internal working group to begin developing ways to support governments’ anti-trafficking efforts in the region. The IDB is coordinating its efforts with the OAS and the IOM, and has developed technical cooperation projects for Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guyana, and Paraguay. The IDB is also working with the Ricky Martin Foundation to raise awareness of the extent of child trafficking in the region through public service announcements, promotional materials, and a video on best practices to combat trafficking in the region. In 2006, the bank and the foundation opened trafficking prevention hotlines (funded by IOM) in Central America, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. As of July 2009, those hotlines had received more than 12,000 calls and led to the initiation of at least 175 police investigations and the rescue of at least 30 TIP victims.45By 2012, the OAS had trained over 1,000 police, immigration officers, prosecutors, and judges from the English-speaking Caribbean and Central American countries to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. OAS programs incorporated the topic of trafficking in persons and materials developed by the OAS in the regular training curricula of the police academies of the regions covered. Inter-American Development Bank In 2004, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) formed an internal working group to begin developing ways to support governments’ anti-trafficking efforts in the region. Since 2006, the IDB has been working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Ricky Martin Foundation to raise awareness about human trafficking in the region through public service announcements, promotional materials, and the creation of hotlines to report abuses. This collaborative campaign, known as “Call and Live,” has been implemented in Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and in the state of Mexico, Mexico. The IDB is supporting the creation of a regional framework for action to combat human trafficking, and has implemented technical cooperation projects related to TIP in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guyana, and Paraguay. IDB efforts are coordinated with the OAS and IOM. Country Efforts: Progress and Remaining Challenges Over the last few years, most Latin American countries, perhaps motivated by international pressure or the threat of U.S. sanctions, have taken steps to address the growing problem of human trafficking. As evidenced in Table 1, a majority of countries in the region have signed and ratified several international protocols in which they have pledged to combat various aspects of the trafficking problem. Those agreements include The U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,; ILO Conventions on Abolishing Forced Labor and the Worst Forms of Child Labor; the Optional Protocol to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Pornography; and The Optional Protocol Congressional Research Service 10 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. SixEight countries passed new or amended anti trafficking legislation in 20102012, while several others created National TIP Coordinators or Task Forces to coordinate anti-TIP programs and initiatives. According to some, the general problem with the new international commitments, legal reforms, and human trafficking initiatives that have emerged in Latin America is that many countries appear to lack the resources and perhaps the political will to fund and implement their antitrafficking programs. Many governments are facing other crime problems (such as drug trafficking and gang violence) which they perceive as a bigger problem than human trafficking. Sometimes country efforts are thwarted by larger problems, such as political instability, as in the cases of Haiti, Honduras, and Guatemala. Many countries have few, if any, shelters for trafficking victims and no follow-up plans to help victims after they return from overseas to their former residences. Mexico, a large middle-income country, just recently opened its firstonly funds one government shelter for TIP victims. Some countries, including Guyana and Belize, have appeared to model have modeled their national TIP laws so closely to TVPA that they do not have the resources or the manpower to implement the complicated legislation. Public corruption is also a major obstacle to effective anti45 “V-ME Premieres IDB Documentary on Human Trafficking,” U.S. Fed News, July 10, 2009. Congressional Research Service 12 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean anti-trafficking programming, as there is often complicity between traffickers and corrupt border officials, customs agents, law enforcement personnel, and politicians. Finally, conviction and prosecution rates for TIP offenders are low compared to other regions, particularly for forced labor and domestic servitude crimes, but this is not surprising given the general weakness of many of the countries’ police and judicial systems. Issues for Policy Consideration U.S. interests in Latin America are multiple and, at times, conflicting. These interests include strengthening democracy, promoting economic growth through free trade, stemming the flow of illegal narcotics and migrants, and cooperating on border security and anti-terrorism measures. These broad interests either directly or indirectly affect all U.S. policy in the region and may at times conflict with specific human rights goals, such as fighting human trafficking. As is the case with many human rights issues, ethical concerns about human trafficking must be balanced against broader U.S. geopolitical goals and interests in each country. There are several ways in which broader U.S. foreign policy goals may influence the TIP report and sanctions process. Some observers maintain that there are certain U.S. allies in the region that could never be sanctioned for political reasons. Others contend that the repeated inclusion of Cuba and, until recently, Venezuela on the Tier 3 list has constituted “selective indignation” on the part of the U.S. government.4637 U.S. officials working in the region have noted that it is sometimes difficult to produce an unbiased account of government efforts against trafficking without being swayed by underlying foreign policy concerns. Others say that it is difficult to deal with trafficking in persons when a country is undergoing extreme political instability, and that were TIP sanctions actually enforced, that they might undermine the broader U.S. goals of preventing democratic democratic breakdown in the hemisphere. Issues that may be considered when evaluating the implementation implementation of U.S. anti-trafficking policies are discussed below. 37 “Politics: U.S. Trafficking Report Includes Cuba and Venezuela,” Global Information Network, June 10, 2005. Congressional Research Service 11 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Sanctions: Are They Useful? Since 2003, no governments in Latin America except Cuba and Venezuela have been subject to partial or full sanctions for failing to meet the minimum standards of TVPA. Ecuador appeared on the Tier 3 list in both 2004 and 2005 but did not face sanctions. Some argue that sanctions will probably only be applied to countries already subject to sanctions—such as Burma, Cuba, or North Korea—and that threatening other countries with sanctions may actually encourage them to become less open to working with the United States. Others argue that this may be the case with China or Saudi Arabia, but most Latin American countries depend on good political and economic relations with the United States and fear the public humiliation that comes with a Tier 3 designation as much as actual sanctions. For example, some believe a Tier 3 designation motivated the government of Belize to take several positive steps against trafficking in the summer of 2006. Others maintain that the progress that Belize made in 2006 has not been sustained, noting that the country received a Tier 2 Watch List rating in the 2009 and 2010 TIP reports. 46 “Politics: U.S. Trafficking Report Includes Cuba and Venezuela,” Global Information Network, June 10, 2005. Congressional Research Service 13 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbeansanctions. For example, some believe a Tier 3 designation in 2010 motivated the Dominican government to increase TIP investigations and prosecutions. How to Measure Success It is often difficult to measure success in the fight against human trafficking. Many countries in Latin America have reported increases in the number of training courses provided, conferences held, and workshops convened as evidence of their commitment to combat human trafficking. However, as stated in the 2009 TIP report, the State Department prefers countries to focus on “concrete actions” when determining the adequacy of a particular country’s anti-TIP efforts. “Concrete actions” include enacting new or amended TIP legislation; expanding victim assistance and prevention programs; and, perhaps most importantly, securing prosecutions, convictions, and prison sentences for TIP offenders. While many countries in Latin America have passed or amended their existing TIP laws, until very recently, the number of TIP-related arrests, prosecutions, and convictions remained low in comparison to other regions. Some have questioned the adequacy of the State Department’s indicators, asserting that more credit should be given to countries that are seeking to address the underlying factors that put people at risk for trafficking, such as gender and racial discrimination, violence against women and children, and economic inequality.4738 Enforcement Improvement In 20102012, there were 7321,077 prosecutions of suspected traffickers and 293402 convictions in Latin America. While prosecutions and convictions have been higher in 2009 and 2010 than in previous years, up from 426 prosecutions and 113 convictions just five years ago. While prosecutions and convictions have risen significantly, they still pale in comparison to Europe, which recorded 2,803 3,161 prosecutions and 1,850 818 convictions in 20102012, and to East Asia and the Pacific, which secured 1,682 prosecutions and initiated 1,251 convictions. They also pale in comparison to the number of reported victims both in Latin America and globallyvictims that have been identified in Latin America (7,639 in 2012 alone). In order to continue improving enforcement of TIP legislation in Latin America, some observers have urged U.S. officials and other donors not to encourage countries to pass laws modeled entirely after those from other countries (such as the TVPA). Instead, countries should be given time to develop develop trafficking laws that respond to their particular TIP problems and law enforcement capacities. Once legislation is in place, more attention and resources may be needed to help countries implement that legislation, and that assistance may need to go beyond training for law enforcement and legal professionals. Third, attention may be needed to address the issue of police corruption that has long plagued many countries in the hemisphere. This could be addressed by stiffening penalties for police, border guards, or other officials caught assisting traffickers. Forced Labor: Adequacy of Country Efforts Recent research suggests that while TIP for sexual exploitation is both a highly prevalent and particularly visible form of human trafficking, TIP for forced labor exploitation may account for a large, often unreported and possibly growing share of TIP globally. Recent interest in forced labor as a form of TIP has sparked calls for greater research in analyzing the prevalence of forced labor, increased international efforts to combat this form of TIP, and more awareness to prevent and educate potential victims. The State Department’s TIP reports since 2005 have placed an added emphasis on evaluating country efforts to combat trafficking for forced labor, and several other 47 for law 38 David E. Guinn, “Defining the Problem of Trafficking: the Interplay of U.S. Law, Donor, and NGO Engagement and the Local Context in Latin America,” Human Rights Quarterly, 30 (2008). Congressional Research Service 14 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean programmatic efforts to combat TIP for forced labor are underway at the State Department. Other international groups, particularly the ILO, also play a large role in efforts to combat forced labor. Within Latin America, Brazil has been singled out by the ILO for its efforts to address forced labor.48 Across the region, labor trafficking prosecutions and convictions are increasing: from one prosecution and one conviction in the 2007 reporting period to 80 prosecutions and 65 convictions in 2010.49 Despite this progress, many Latin American countries have yet to broaden their anti-TIP efforts out from focusing largely on the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children12 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean enforcement and legal professionals. Attention also may be needed to address the issue of police corruption that has long plagued many countries in the hemisphere. This could be addressed by stiffening penalties for police, border guards, or other officials caught assisting traffickers. Debates About Prostitution and Trafficking The current U.N. definition of TIP assumes that there are at least two different types of prostitution, one of which is the result of free choice to participate in the prostitution business while the other is the result of coercion, vulnerability, deception, or other pressures. Of these, only the latter type is considered TIP under the U.N. definition. Based on the TVPA, as amended, sex trafficking is not considered a “severe form of TIP” unless it is associated with commercial sex acts induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such acts is a minor.5039 Several groups in the United States have sought to redefine TIP to include all prostitution, but many countries have thus far rejected those attempts. Proponents of this broader definition of TIP argue that prostitution is “not ‘sex work;’ it is violence against women [that] exists because ... men are given social, moral and legal permission to buy women on demand.”5140 Several European and Latin American countries, which have legal or government-regulated prostitution, reject such a definitional change and argue that this broader definition would impede the capacity of the international community to achieve consensus and work together to combat trafficking. The U.S. State Department asserts that prostitution and TIP are inextricably linked. Most recently, in its 2008 TIP Report to Congress, the State Department states that “sex trafficking would not exist without the demand for commercial sex flourishing around the world” and that prostitution and any related activities “should not be regulated as a legitimate form of work for any human being.”5241 State Department officials have identified the fact that legalized prostitution fuels sex trafficking in the region as an obstacle to anti-TIP efforts in Latin America.53 Is U.S. Anti-TIP Assistance for Latin America Sufficient? Questions have been raised about the adequacy of U.S. anti-TIP assistance to Latin America. In FY2008 the percentage of U.S. international anti-trafficking program funds dedicated to Latin 48 Patricia Trindade Maranhão Costa, “Fighting Forced Labor: The Example of Brazil,” ILO Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, 2009. 49 TIP Report, June 2011. 50 Sec. 103 (8-9) of P.L. 106-386, as amended. 51 Janice G. Raymond, “Sex Trafficking is Not ‘Sex Work,’” Conscience, Spring 2005. 5242 Forced Labor: Adequacy of Country Efforts Recent research suggests that while TIP for sexual exploitation is both a highly prevalent and particularly visible form of human trafficking, TIP for forced labor exploitation may account for a large, often unreported and possibly growing share of TIP globally. Recent interest in forced labor as a form of TIP has sparked calls for greater research in analyzing the prevalence of forced labor, increased international efforts to combat this form of TIP, and more awareness to prevent and educate potential victims. The State Department’s TIP reports since 2005 have placed an added emphasis on evaluating country efforts to combat trafficking for forced labor, and several other programmatic efforts to combat TIP for forced labor are underway at the State Department. Other international groups, particularly the ILO, also play a large role in efforts to combat forced labor. Within Latin America, Brazil has been singled out by the ILO for its efforts to address forced 39 §103 (8-9) of P.L. 106-386, as amended. Janice G. Raymond, “Sex Trafficking is Not ‘Sex Work,’” Conscience, Spring 2005. 41 U.S. Department of State, 2008 TIP Report. The 2009 TIP Report does not discuss linkages between prostitution and trafficking. 5342 U.S. Department of State, G-TIP, Power Point Presentation from Briefing on TIP in the Western Hemisphere, July 2009. 40 Congressional Research Service 15 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean American and the Caribbean declined as compared to previous years, a trend that was reversed in FY2009 and FY2010. Similarly, total U.S. anti-TIP obligations for the region fell from roughly $17.5 million in FY2006 and FY2007 to some $13.7 million in FY2008, but rose again to some $17.3 million in FY2009 and $17.6 million in FY2010. Representatives from the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons have expressed hope that more anti-TIP programs in Mexico and Central America might be funded through the Mérida Initiative and the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI).54 To date, Congress has appropriated roughly $1.96 billion for the Mérida Initiative and CARSI. Neither initiative currently includes much funding specifically devoted to combating human trafficking. 54 U.S. Department of State, G-TIP, Power Point Presentation from Briefing on TIP in the Western Hemisphere, July 2009. Congressional Research Service 16 13 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean labor.43 Across the region, labor trafficking prosecutions and convictions are increasing: from one prosecution and one conviction in the 2007 reporting period to 369 prosecutions and 107 convictions in 2012.44 Despite this progress, many Latin American countries have yet to broaden their anti-TIP efforts out from focusing largely on the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children. 43 Patricia Trindade Maranhão Costa, “Fighting Forced Labor: The Example of Brazil,” ILO Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, 2009. 44 TIP Report, June 2011. Congressional Research Service 14 Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Table 1. Latin America and the Relevant International Conventions on Human Trafficking Country 20102012 Tier Placement 20112013 Tier Placement ILO Convention 105 ILO Convention 182 Ratified (a) Ratified Ratified Signed Ratified (a) X X X X X X U.N. TIP Protocol Signed Optional Protocol of CRC Optional Protocol CRC Armed Conflict Signed Ratified (a) X X X X X Antigua & Barbuda Tier 2 Tier 2 Argentina Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X Bahamas Tier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X X X X Barbados Tier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X X X Belize Tier 2 WL Tier 2 X (a)** X X X X Bolivia Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X Brazil Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X X X Chile Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X X X Colombia Tier 1 Tier 1 X X X X X X X X Costa Rica Tier 2 Tier 2 WL X X X X X X X X Cuba Tier 3 Tier 3 X X X X DR Tier 32 Tier 2 WL X X X X X(a) X Ecuador Tier 2Tier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X X X X X X X X El Salvador Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X X X Guatemala Tier 2 WL Tier 2 X (a) X X X X X X Guyana Tier 2 WL Tier 22WL X (a) X X Not rated Not rated. X X HondurasTier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X X X Tier 2 Tier 22WL X(a) X X Jamaica Tier 2 WL Tier 2 X X X X X X X X Mexico Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X X X Nicaragua Tier 1Tier 2 WL Tier 21 X (a) X X Haiti Nicaragua CRS-17Ecuador Haiti Honduras CRS-15 X X X(a) X(a) X X(a) X X (a) X X (a) X (a) X X X X X(a) Country 2010 Tier Placement 2011 X(a) Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Country 2012 Tier Placement 2013 Tier Placement U.N. TIP Protocol ILO Convention 105 ILO Convention 182 Optional Protocol of CRC Optional Protocol CRC Armed Conflict Signed Ratified (a) Ratified Ratified Signed Ratified (a) Signed Ratified (a) Panama Tier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X X X X X X X X Paraguay Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X X X Peru Tier 2 Tier 2 X X X X X X X X St. Vincent &Grenadines Tier 2Tier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X X X X Suriname Tier 2 WL Tier 2 WL X(a) X X X X X X Venezuela Tier 2 WL Tier 32WL X X X X St. Vincent &GrenadinesX X X X X (a) X X Source: U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, 2011, June 27, 2011. Notes: * (WL) indicates placement on Tier 2 Watch List as opposed to Tier 2. ** (a) indicates accession. Treaties and Protocols: —U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons —ILO Convention 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor) —ILO Convention 182 (Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor) —Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Pornography —Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict CRS-1816 X(a) X X Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean Author Contact Information Clare Ribando Seelke Specialist in Latin American Affairs cseelke@crs.loc.gov, 7-5229 Congressional Research Service 1917