Human Trafficking in [Brazil Street Children in [Brazil] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Brazil] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Federative Republic of Brazil [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The Federative
Republic of Brazil [map], a federation of 26 states, is large, occupying nearly half
of the South American continent. It is
bordered by Brazil is a source country for women and
children trafficked within the country and transnationally for the purposes
of commercial sexual exploitation, as well as a source country for men
trafficked internally for forced labor. The Brazilian Federal Police estimate
that 250,000 children are exploited for prostitution, although NGOs put the
number as high as 500,000. Between 25,000 to 100,000 men are subjected to
slave labor within the country. Approximately half of the nearly 6,000 men
freed from slave labor in 2007 were found exploited on plantations growing
sugar cane for the production of ethanol, a growing trend. A large number of
Brazilian women and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation to
destinations in South America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Japan, the
United States, and the Middle East. To a lesser extent, Brazil is a
destination for the trafficking of men, women, and children from Bolivia,
Peru, and the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) for forced labor into
factories in major urban areas of Brazil. Child sex tourism remains a serious
problem, particularly in the resort areas and coastal areas of Brazil’s
northeast, and mostly involves tourists from Europe and the United States. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [full country
report] |
|
CAUTION: The following links have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in *** FEATURED
ARTICLE *** Forced Labor, Iraq War Take Center Stage at World Social Forum The group praised Brazil's
endeavor to eliminate the exploitation of workers, saying it was the only government
successful in its efforts. "The
Brazilian model in fighting forced labor is exportable," said Luis
Carlos Moro, of the Latin American Association of Labor Attorneys, which is
part of the anti-forced labor network.
Brazilian ILO delegate Patricia Audi said Brazil, South America's
largest nation, rescued in 2003 a record 5,100 people who were working in
slave-liked conditions in the rural sector. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S. Dept
of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs CURRENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The primary program to assist child victims of
commercial sexual exploitation is the Sentinel Program, which establishes
local reference centers to provide victims with psychological, social, and
legal services. In addition, the
government’s Global Program to Prevent Trafficking in Persons is working to
establish a database on trafficking in persons, including the trafficking of
children and adolescents, strengthen efforts to combat the practice, and
develop pilot programs to assist victims. [646] The program is being
implemented with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC). Pilot programs are being launched in Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Although
comprehensive government statistics on the problem were unavailable, authorities
estimated that thousands of women and adolescents were trafficked, both
domestically and internationally, for commercial sexual exploitation. NGOs
estimated that 75 thousand women and girls, many of them trafficked, were
engaged in prostitution in neighboring South American countries, the United
States, and Western Europe. Women were trafficked from all parts of the
country. The government reported that trafficking routes existed in all
states and the Internal trafficking of rural
workers into forced labor schemes was a serious problem, while trafficking
from rural to urban areas occurred to a lesser extent. Union leaders claimed
that nearly all persons working as forced laborers had been trafficked by
labor recruiters (see section 6.c.). Labor inspectors found a small number of
persons from other countries trafficked to work in urban sweatshops. Labor
recruiters generally recruited laborers from small municipalities in the
North and Northeast and transported the recruits long distances to ranches
and plantations in remote areas in the central part of the country. Most
internally trafficked slave laborers originated from Maranhao and Piaui
states, while Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004 [46] The Committee welcomes the
ratification by the State party of the Hague Convention on Protection of
Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption of 1993.
However, it regrets the lack of statistical data on domestic and
inter-country adoption and it expresses its concern that the State party does
not provide sufficient safeguards against trafficking and sale of children
for the purpose of, inter alia, adoption. [62] The Committee welcomes the
decision of the State party’s President, to make the fight against child
sexual exploitation a priority of his Government. However, the Committee is
deeply concerned by the wide occurrence of sexual exploitation and related
issues, as also noted in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of
children, child prostitution, and child pornography following his mission to
Brazil in 2003 (E/CN.4/2004/9/Add.2). PORTUGAL-BRAZIL:
Human Trafficking and Marriages - Another Link Brazil’s influence in Portugal is
not limited to music, television programming, football, cuisine and tropical
beach vacations. Today it is also the main source
of victims of human trafficking to Portugal, women who fall into prostitution
and sexual exploitation networks, as well as a source of large numbers of
women who marry Portuguese men. Brazil
is the favourite country for traffickers who form part of the prostitution
networks that have mushroomed in Portugal, which is a springboard to
wealthier European Union destinations, according to studies presented at a
seminar organised Monday and Tuesday by the governmental Portuguese Youth
Institute (IPJ). Brazil
to launch campaign against human trafficking Brazilians are the major victims
of international human trafficking, according to the United Nations. Most
victims are women aged between 18 and 30 with a low educational background. These
women want to leave for Europe and believe they will have a better job and
life there but end up being sexually exploited. Brazil
Tries to Stem Tide of Sex Slavery Spanish
Police Arrest 14 in Crackdown on Immigrant Prostitution Ring The group recruited hundreds of
women coming mainly from The
Price of a Slave in Brazil Brazil is responsible for 15
percent of women trafficked in South America, a great majority being from the
North and the Northeast. Most of them
are young—between 12 and 18 years old—have little schooling, and are of
African descent. Currently, the "market value" of a Brazilian woman
is up to US$ 15,000. Forced
Child Prostitution in Brazil Twelve girls--among them, Ana Meire Lima da Silva, age
15, and Miriam Ferreira dos "Foreigners
in Our Own Country": Indigenous Peoples in Brazil Amnesty International has
documented and campaigned against human rights violations committed against
indigenous peoples in Forced Labor, Iraq
War Take Center Stage at World Social Forum The group praised Brazil's
endeavor to eliminate the exploitation of workers, saying it was the only
government successful in its efforts.
"The Brazilian model in fighting forced labor is exportable,"
said Luis Carlos Moro, of the Latin American Association of Labor Attorneys,
which is part of the anti-forced labor network. Brazilian ILO delegate Patricia Audi said
Brazil, South America's largest nation, rescued in 2003 a record 5,100 people
who were working in slave-liked conditions in the rural sector. Report:
Japan Sex Industry Ensnares Latin Women When she arrived she was raped by
all three men and sold to a Yakuza organized crime boss, who branded her
across the chest with a 6-inch (15-centimeter) rose tattoo. He forced her to
provide sexual services to up to 40 clients a day, she said. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study Brazil slave
inspectors shot dead Three
Brazilian officials were shot dead while investigating allegations that farm
workers were used as slave labour, the Labour Ministry has said. A spokesman said the officials and their
driver were ambushed in the state of Minais Gerais. But he said it was not clear whether the
murders had anything to do with the investigations. Latin
America - Sexual Exploitation The Crisis of Child Sexual
Exploitation in Brazil. Between
250,000 and 2 million children forced into prostitution in Brazil. Short quotes and Links. 100 women were trafficked for
prostitution from remote villages in Brazil to London over a 5-year period.
The women were held under debt bondage. The trafficker made £5 million
profit. (Superintendent Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual
Exploitation: Assessment of the Current Threat Within Central London"
Metroploitan Police Service, June 1996). Human
Rights Overview - Brazil January 1, 2004 FORCED LABOR - The use of forced labor in
Brazil's ranching and timber industries has long been an extremely disturbing
problem. According to the Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission, at
least 25,000 people were working under forced labor conditions in Brazil in
2002, often with the tolerance of local authorities. New
era of slavery exposed in Brazil's rainforest A skeletal Geraldo da Silva was
found sleeping under plastic sheets in a jungle camp with no running water or
toilets, the deep bloody cuts on his hands and feet evidence that he had
spent months clearing thick jungle vegetation. Armed vigilantes watched over him as he
worked and had threatened to kill him if he tried to flee. Silva was among 32 slaves found by
Brazilian labour ministry inspectors during a recent raid on remote cattle
ranch in the Amazon owned by a right-wing senator - a find which has brought
to the attention of the wider world an appalling violation of human
rights. More than 2,000 slaves have
been freed in raids over the past year, and there are now thought to be more
than 25,000 people living in inhumane conditions and working for nothing on
cattle ranches, coffee farms and sugar cane fields across Brazil. Most forced labor takes place on
large estates called Fazendas. In its present-day version, slavery begins
with labor contractors called Gatos, or cats. They lure uneducated workers,
largely from the northeast, with the promise of decent wages. Once the
laborers arrive, however, they find they have already run up un-payable debts
to their employers for food, medicine, and lodging, even the use of tools. In
many cases they work long hours in the hot sun in exchange for food or wages
as low as 10 cents and hour. Armed guards patrol work areas to ensure nobody
escapes until debts are paid. The
Price of a Slave in Brazil Brazil is responsible for 15
percent of women trafficked in South America, a great majority being from the
North and the Northeast. Most of them are young—between 12 and 18 years
old—have little schooling, and are of African descent. Currently, the
"market value" of a Brazilian woman is up to US$ 15,000. . - htcp Dozens
of slaves freed in Brazil They said the sugar-cane cutters
had been lured from the poor north-eastern region of Brazil with false
promises and then made to work as bonded labour. They had little to eat and some shacks
where they lived had no ventilation. iAbolish
- Country Report: Brazil Jobless and hungry, the Rocha
family followed the promise of the gato (recruiter) and traveled by truck to
the Minas Gerais region hoping for a better life. After arriving at the
batteria (work camp), the gato informed the Rochas - at gunpoint - that they
would be charged for travel, tools, food, and shelter. The family suddenly
found itself trapped in forced labor, working 18-hour days to pay off an
ever-accruing debt. 'Slaves' found
on Brazilian ranch Officials said they discovered 32
slave-workers on the ranch of right-wing Senator Joao Ribeiro in the northern
state of Para. They said the captives
worked seven days a week without pay and had no running water or toilets. Senator Ribeiro, of the Liberal Front
Party, denies mistreatment. Trapped:
Modern-Day Slavery in the Brazilian Amazon “Despite the clammy heat, I feel a
cold shiver down my back as I sense something of Albertino's pain and terror.
Lured into the jungle by false promises, treated with casual brutality, he
was worked to the limits of endurance, forcibly held prisoner, and discarded
as one might stamp on a cockroach” - from Trapped:
Modern-day slavery in the Brazilian Amazon, by Binka Le Breton Brazil's
Prized Exports Rely On Slaves and Scorched Land The recruiters gather at the bus
station here in this grimy Amazon frontier town, waiting for the weary and
the desperate to disembark. When they spot a target, they promise him a
steady job, good pay, free housing and plenty of food. A quick handshake
seals the deal. But for thousands of peasants,
that handshake ensures a slide into slavery. No sooner do they board the
battered trucks that take them to work felling trees and tending cattle deep
in the jungle than they find themselves mired in debt, under armed guard and
unable to leave their new workplace. ''It was 12 years before I was
finally able to escape and make my way back home,'' said Bernardo Gomes da
Silva, 42. ''We were forced to start work at 6 in the morning and to continue
sometimes until 11 at night, but I was never paid during that entire time
because they always claimed that I owed them money.'' All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Brazil Street Children in [Brazil] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Brazil] [other countries]