Human trafficking in Peru
Encyclopedia
Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

 in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

. Several thousand persons are estimated to be subjected to conditions of forced labor within Peru, mainly in mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

, logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, brick making, and domestic servitude. Many trafficking victims are women and girls from impoverished rural regions of the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...

, recruited and coerced into prostitution in urban nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

s, bars, and brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...

s, often through false employment offers or promises of education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

. Indigenous persons are particularly vulnerable to debt bondage. Forced child labor remains a problem, particularly in informal gold mines, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 production, and transportation. There were reports the terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 group Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, recruited children as soldiers and drug mules. To a lesser extent, Peruvians are subjected to forced prostitution in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and forced labor in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Peru also is a destination country for some Ecuadorian and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

n females in forced prostitution, and some Bolivian citizens in conditions of forced labor. Child sex tourism is present in Iquitos
Iquitos
Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of 370,962. It is the capital of Loreto Region and Maynas Province.Located on the Amazon River, it is only above sea level, although it is more than from the mouth of the Amazon at Belém on the Atlantic Ocean...

, Madre de Dios, and Cuzco. Traffickers reportedly operate with impunity in certain regions where there is little or no government presence.

The Government of Peru does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Last year, the government increased law enforcement efforts against trafficking crimes and maintained public awareness initiatives. However, the government failed to provide adequate victim services and made insufficient efforts to address the high incidence of labor trafficking in the country.

Prosecution

The Government of Peru improved efforts to combat human trafficking through law enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

 last year. Law 28950 prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons, prescribing penalties of eight to 25 years’ imprisonment depending on the circumstances. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

. During the reporting period, police investigated 137 trafficking cases; of these, 34 involved forced labor and 103 involved sex trafficking, with a total of 185 reported victims. Authorities brought forth 78 trafficking cases to the judiciary and secured the convictions of nine sex trafficking offenders, who received sentences ranging from three to 30 years’ imprisonment, in addition to fines. In comparison, Peruvian authorities prosecuted 54 cases and convicted five sex trafficking offenders the previous year. However, there were very few prosecutions and no convictions reported for forced labor offenses, despite an estimated high incidence of forced labor in the country. The government’s dedicated anti-trafficking police unit consisted of approximately 30 officers.

Police maintained and expanded the use of an electronic case tracking system for human trafficking investigations, although this system did not track judicial activity, such as prosecutions and convictions. Corruption among low-level officials enabled trafficking in certain instances, and individual police officers tolerated the operation of unlicensed brothels and the prostitution of children. No investigations or allegations of official complicity with trafficking activity were reported last year. The government provided training on human trafficking to law enforcement officials, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

 officials, diplomats, and legal officials, among others. The government collaborated with foreign governments on anti-trafficking initiatives and investigations.

Protection

The government provided limited assistance to trafficking victims last year. The government did not employ a formal mechanism for identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as adult women in prostitution. While the government had no formal process for referring trafficking victims for treatment, authorities could refer child victims of trafficking to government-operated children’s homes for basic shelter and care, two of which provide specialized care to victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Similarly, the government operated general shelters for adult female victims of abuse, which some trafficking victims accessed during the reporting period. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provided care to sexually exploited women; however, specialized services and shelter for trafficking victims remained largely unavailable. The government did not provide financial assistance to anti-trafficking NGOs, though it provided in-kind support; adequate victim services remained unavailable in many parts of the country.

Foreign victims had access to the same services as Peruvian victims. Last year, Peruvian authorities identified 185 trafficking victims, 159 women and 26 menthough the number of victims in the country is thought to be much higherand provided 19 of these victims with legal, social, and psychological services. Some trafficking victims were not advised of their rights or provided with medical treatment, and some police officers released them without recognizing their victim status or referring them to shelters; some of these victims ended up returning to brothels in search of shelter and food.

Lack of victim participation in the investigation or prosecution of traffickers remained a problem, in addition to the lack of a witness protection program. Some victims may not have pursued legal redress because they could not afford legal representation. The government did not penalize victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Trafficking victims were eligible for temporary and permanent residency status under Peruvian refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

 law, and at least 11 victims were granted such permanent residency. During the year, authorities assisted foreign trafficking victims with voluntary repatriation. Many of the country’s 412 labor inspectors have received training on forced labor; in 2009, the government created an elite team of five inspectors to address forced labor in the Amazon, but the team found their budget was insufficient to complete the mission.

Prevention

The Government of Peru sustained anti-trafficking prevention efforts. The government maintained an anti-trafficking campaign and operated and promoted a hotline for trafficking-related crimes and information, which received 44 reports of trafficking in 2009. The government continued to air anti-trafficking videos in transportation hubs, warning travelers of the legal consequences of engaging in trafficking activity or consuming services from trafficked persons. Although some areas of the country are known child sex tourism
Child sex tourism
Child sex tourism is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, that is commercially-facilitated child sexual abuse...

 destinations and Peruvian laws prohibit this practice, there were no reported convictions of child sex tourists. The government trained 710 government officials and tourism service providers about child sex tourism, conducted a public awareness campaign on the issue, and reached out to the tourism industry to raise awareness about child sex tourism; to date, 60 businesses have signed code of conduct agreements nationwide. No efforts to reduce demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor were reported. The government provided Peruvian peacekeepers with human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 training prior to deployment.
In October 2011, almost 300 women and young girls were rescued from sexual exploitation in a raid in an Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...

ian region of Peru known as a gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...

 hub.

See also

  • Human rights in Peru
    Human rights in Peru
    Several issues were brought to Peruvian justice courts in 2000 to address several human rights violations during the Internal conflict in Peru during the 1980s. These issues constituted one of the largest processes of systematic violence in Peru's history. Many concerns remain today over the lack...

  • Child camel jockey
  • Child labour
  • Child laundering
    Child laundering
    Child laundering is the stealing and selling of children to adopting parents under false pretenses. Often the adoption agency or adoption facilitator hides or falsifies the child's origin to make the child appear to be a legitimate orphan by manipulating birth certificates, intake records, or...

  • Comfort woman
    Comfort Woman
    Comfort Woman is the fifth solo album by Me'shell Ndegeocello. It was released October 14, 2003 on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #150 on the Billboard Top 200 list that year. The album also peaked at #43 on Billboard's R&B Album chart. The LP was the final record released by Maverick,...

  • Commercial sexual exploitation of children
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children and amounts to forced labour and a contemporary form of slavery....

  • Debt bondage
    Debt bondage
    Debt bondage is when a person pledges him or herself against a loan. In debt bondage, the services required to repay the debt may be undefined, and the services' duration may be undefined...

  • Exploitation
    Exploitation
    This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...

  • Sexual exploitation
    Sexual exploitation
    Sexual exploitation may refer to:*Sexual slavery*Sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian response...

  • Forced labour
  • Forced prostitution
    Forced prostitution
    Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution, is the act of performing sexual activity in exchange for money on a non-voluntary basis. There are a wide range of entry routes into prostitution, ranging from "voluntary and deliberate" entry, "semi-voluntary" based on pressure of...

  • Illegal immigration
    Illegal immigration
    Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...

  • ILO
    Ilo
    Ilo is a port city in southern Peru, with some 58,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the Moquegua Region and capital of the province of Ilo.-History:...

  • Kidnapping
    Kidnapping
    In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

  • Military use of children
    Military use of children
    The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...

  • People smuggling
    People smuggling
    People smuggling is defined as "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents"...

  • Serious and Organised Crime Group
    Serious and Organised Crime Group
    The Serious and Organised Crime Command is a unit of the Metropolitan Police. It is part of the Specialist Crime Directorate and is divided into 10 units:...

  • Sharecropping
    Sharecropping
    Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land . This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of...

  • South East Asia Court of Women on HIV and Human Trafficking
    South East Asia Court of Women on HIV and Human Trafficking
    - History :Organised by UNDP, Asian women’s Human Rights Council andYakeba . With the auspices of UN and CSO- Co-coordinators :Besides UNDP,AWHRC and Yakeba...

  • Trafficking of children
    Trafficking of children
    Trafficking of children is a form of human trafficking. It is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receiving of children for the purpose of exploitation....

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