Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean


 

Publication Date: December 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Human rights

Type:

Abstract:

Trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation or forced labor, both within a country and across international borders, is a lucrative criminal activity that is of major concern to the United States and the international community. Trafficking in persons affects nearly every country and region in the world. While most trafficking victims still appear to originate from South and Southeast Asia or the former Soviet Union, human trafficking is a growing problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. Countries in Latin America serve as source, transit, and destination countries for trafficking victims. Latin America is also a primary source for the estimated 14,500 to 17,500 people that are trafficked to the United States each year.

In Latin America, trafficking in persons occurs both within countries and across borders as children and adults are trafficked for prostitution, forced labor, and domestic servitude. Traffickers take advantage of poor young people with minimal education in countries with political instability, high unemployment, and corruption. Trafficking is increasingly tied to organized criminal groups who exploit undocumented migrants, especially in the U.S.- Mexico border region.

Congress has taken a leading role in fighting human trafficking by passing the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-193). On October 7, 2005, the Senate approved the ratification of the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons. The United States became a party to the Protocol on December 3, 2005.

In FY2004, the State Department and other U.S. agencies provided more than $82 million in anti-trafficking assistance to foreign governments. On June 3, 2005, the State Department released its fifth annual report on human trafficking, Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) dividing countries into four groups according to the efforts they were making to combat trafficking. Tier 3 countries are those that have not made an adequate effort to combat trafficking and are subject to sanctions.

Latin America had a higher percentage of Tier 3 countries in both the 2004 and 2005 TIP reports than any other region. In 2005, Bolivia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Venezuela, and Cuba were placed on Tier 3, but only Venezuela and Cuba were subject to sanctions by the presidential determination announced in September 2005.

This report describes the nature and scope of the problem of trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper 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 paper concludes by raising several issues for policy consideration that may be helpful as the 109th Congress continues to address human trafficking as part of its authorization, appropriations, and oversight activities. This report will be updated periodically. For more information, see CRS Report RL30545, Trafficking in Persons: The U.S. and the International Response, by Francis Miko.