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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

Republic of Chile

Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade and a reputation for strong financial institutions and sound policy that have given it the strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. Exports account for 40% of GDP, with commodities making up some three-quarters of total exports. Copper alone provides one-third of government revenue.  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Description: Description: Chile

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

 

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

www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-migrant/chilean-police-break-up-migrant-human-trafficking-ring-idUSKCN1SV0NM?il=0

[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 - Description: Description: http://www.stopchildtrafficking.org/site/clear.gifTo be able to protect young boys and girls from child trafficking, it is primarily important to improve the basic legal framework. Thanks to the initiative of DNI and Infante, partner organizations of terre des hommes in Bolivia, amendments to laws making child trafficking a punishable offence are about to be passed. Similarly, the Chilean organization, Raices, works closely with the local police authorities. In addition, a commission with representatives from Chile, Peru and Bolivia is working on a strategic and a more effective approach against cross-border child trafficking.

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

www.hrw.org/americas/chile

[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.

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