Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports
& articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Chile.htm
Chile is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for
the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and labor trafficking. Within
the country, many victims are Chilean women and girls who respond to false
job offers and subsequently are subjected to forced prostitution. Chilean
women and girls also are trafficked for involuntary prostitution and labor
exploitation to neighboring countries such as Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia,
as well as Western Europe. Foreign women from Argentina, Bolivia, Peru,
Colombia, and Paraguay, in addition to Asian countries such as China, are
lured to Chile with fraudulent job offers and subsequently coerced into
prostitution or domestic servitude. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Chile. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you
like to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** iAbolish Country
Report: Chile iabolish.org | The
American Anti-Slavery Group www.iabolish.org/slavery_today/country_reports/cl.html [Last access date
unavailable] COUNTRY BACKGROUND - Slavery has a
legacy in Chile. In the 1980s, during the former dictatorship, "dignity
colonies" were operating. These were clandestine camps where many of the
desparecidos (the 'disappeared' people) were sexually exploited and trapped
in a system of forced labor. These were only recently discovered. The kinds
of slavery that exist in Chile today also hardly receive any immediate media
attention. THE PROCESS OF
ENSLAVEMENT
- Chile is a destination for Bolivian minors who are lured into the country
under false pretenses and promises of higher wages in a country economically
more stable than Bolivia. Chile is also a country where human traffickers
facilitate and promote the movement of people from Asia to American cities,
such as Los Angeles and Houston, for the purposes of debt bondage and sexual
exploitation. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Trafficking
Complaints Rise by 500 Percent in Chile Maria Paula Chaparro, InSight Crime, 18
November 2019 www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/human-trafficking-complaints-rise-in-chile/ [accessed 19
November 2019] According to
investigators, the organization duped the women in Colombia with promises of
work, and then provided for their travel by plane and tourism visas. Once
they arrived in Chile, they were moved to various cities, including Temuco,
Los Ángeles, Osorno y
Puerto Montt, where they were forced to prostitute
themselves. The women told
authorities that the traffickers had taken their cell phones and that they
were constantly monitored via security cameras. The traffickers also
threatened to publish photos of them, assault their families, and have them
deported. Temuco Attorney
General Alberto Chiffelle said that it was akin to
“modern slavery in the sense that they were victims of coercion and threats.” Chilean police
break up migrant human trafficking ring Dave Sherwood,
Reuters, Santiago, 25 May 2019 [accessed 26 May
2019] Chilean prosecutors
are indicting at least 10 people over their alleged links to a human
trafficking ring that smuggled hundreds of Chinese migrants into Chile after
charging them $5,000 apiece for tourist visas, local media reported on
Saturday. In all, 381 Chinese
citizens were smuggled into the country illegally by the group in 2016 and
2017, according to the reports. Martorell said some of the
migrants were conned, while others had been abandoned or otherwise put in
danger. Some had since departed for other countries in Latin America, she
said, while others were in the process of seeking permanent residency. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Chile U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/chile/
[accessed 27 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Labor trafficking continued
to occur. Some foreign citizens were subjected to forced labor in the mining,
domestic service, and hospitality sectors. Some children were forcibly
employed in the agriculture, industry, and services sectors, as well as drug
trade (see section 7.c.). PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor
continued to be a problem in the informal economy and agriculture, primarily
in rural areas. Higher numbers of violations occurred in the construction,
industrial manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, and agriculture sectors. In urban areas it
was common to find boys carrying loads in agricultural loading docks and
assisting in construction activities, while girls sold goods on the streets
and worked as domestic servants. Children worked in the production of
ceramics and books and in the repair of shoes and garments. In rural areas
children were involved in caring for farm animals as well as in harvesting,
collecting, and selling crops, such as wheat. The use of children in illicit activities,
which included the production and trafficking of narcotics, continued to be a
problem. Commercial sexual exploitation of children also continued to be a
problem (see section 6, Children). Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/chile/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? While compulsory labor
is illegal, forced labor, particularly among foreign citizens, continues to
occur in the agriculture, mining, and domestic service sectors. Although there have
been improvements in fighting child labor, minors still suffer commercial
sexual exploitation and work unprotected in the agricultural sector.
Moreover, there is limited public information about forced child labor. 2017 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2018 www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf [accessed 17 April
2019] www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 24 April
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 278] In Chile, children
are subjected to human trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and
domestic work. (9) Children, some of whom may be trafficking victims, are
also used to steal, or to produce, sell, and transport drugs near the border
with Peru and Bolivia. (25; 21; 9) In 2017, the National Minors’ Service
(SENAME) identified 415 victims of the worst forms of child labor, including
242 engaged in illicit activities and 65 in commercial sexual exploitation.
(23) Indigenous children
and adolescents from Otavalo, Ecuador, are especially vulnerable to human
trafficking for labor exploitation in Chile. (2; 18) Children are also
involved in street work, especially in Santiago, including selling
handicrafts, clothes, or other goods. (26; 27; 28) In Coquimbo, children sell
products in street markets, and work as jugglers. (13). Child trafficking
projects in Central and South America stopchildtrafficking.org, 01.06.2005 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4
September 2011] INVOLVING THE
GOVERNMENTS
- Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 1 February 2002 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/chile2002.html [accessed 28 January
2011] [49] The Committee,
while noting that the State party has ratified ILO Conventions No. 138
concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and No. 182 concerning the
Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of
Child Labour and increased the minimum age for
admission to work to 15, expresses its deep concern at the large number of
children, including those under 15, who are exploited economically,
especially in the farming sector, and the large number who have to leave
school because they cannot conciliate work and school. The Protection
Project - Human Rights Reports of The Americas - Chile [DOC] The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS),
The Johns Hopkins University www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/chile.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - One study
reported that 50 percent of foreign women working in eastern Santiago’s
late-night establishments were victims of trafficking. Foreign women come to
Santiago to look for work, and from Santiago they are trafficked to other
parts of the country. Bolivian women
and children are trafficked to Chile for prostitution and domestic work. A Chilean woman was
allegedly involved in a network that was suspected of trafficking young Chilean
women for prostitution in Japan. Known
as the “Chilean Geisha,” she made a fortune with her best-selling memoirs,
her music albums, and even a movie about her life. Corporación
La Morada, one of Chile’s leading women’s
organizations, filed a lawsuit against the “geisha” for trafficking in
persons; in June 2004, the government’s Council for the Defense of State
joined the legal action against her. Human Rights
Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide [accessed 28 January
2011] ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** 2017 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 20 April 2018 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/wha/277317.htm
[accessed 19 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/chile/ [accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Labor trafficking
continued to occur. Some foreign citizens were subjected to forced labor in
the mining, agriculture, domestic service, and hospitality sectors. Some
children were forcibly employed in the drug trade. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor
continued to be a problem in the informal economy and agriculture, primarily in
rural areas. Higher numbers of violations occurred in the construction,
industrial manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, and agriculture sectors. In urban areas it
was common to find boys carrying loads in agricultural loading docks and
assisting in construction activities, while girls sold goods on the streets
and worked as domestic servants. Children worked in the production of
ceramics and books and in the repair of shoes and garments. In rural areas
children were involved in caring for farm animals as well as harvesting,
collecting, and selling crops, such as wheat. The use of children in illicit
activities, which included the production and trafficking of narcotics,
continued to be a problem. Commercial sexual exploitation of children also
continued to be a problem. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61720.htm [accessed 7 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– Within the country victims reportedly were trafficked from rural areas to
such urban areas as Santiago, Iquique, and Valparaiso. Law enforcement authorities
stated that small numbers of victims were trafficked to neighboring countries
(Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia), the United States, Europe, and Asia. Victims
reportedly entered the country from Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia,
although it was difficult to distinguish trafficked persons from economic
migrants. Anecdotal reports
suggested that young women were the primary targets for trafficking to other
countries. Traffickers reportedly used newspaper advertisements for models
and product promoters to lure girls, ages 11 to 17, into prostitution. Law
enforcement agencies indicated that traffickers looking for children also
targeted economically disadvantaged families, arguing to the parents that
they were giving the child an opportunity for a better life. Men from
less-affluent rural areas may be recruited into abusive labor situations in
deep-sea fishing or ranching operations. The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2005 www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/chile.htm [accessed 28 January
2011] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In 2003, the Government of Chile estimated that
there were approximately 3,700 children involved in some form of commercial
sexual exploitation. Children are also
trafficked internally for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. All
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