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/CostaRica.htm
Costa Rica is a
source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked
for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. To a lesser but increasing
extent, Costa Rica is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children trafficked into forced labor, particularly in
agriculture, construction, restaurant work, the fishing industry, and as
domestic servants. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here or full TIP Report here |
|
|||||||||||
|
CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in 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. HELP for Victims Judicial Investigation Organization ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Child smuggling is
good business - official South African Press
Association SAPA & Agence France-Presse AFP, www.iol.co.za/news/world/child-smuggling-is-good-business-official-1.113611 [accessed 30 January
2011] ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Costa Rica 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/costa-rica/
[accessed 30 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Forced labor of
migrants occurred in the agricultural sector. On June 22, the Judicial Investigative
Police identified 14 migrant workers (including eight irregular migrants and
six refugees, one of whom had a COVID-19 quarantine order) living in
overcrowded and unsanitary conditions on a farm in Pococi,
Limon. In 2019 the Attorney General’s Office reported a conviction of
trafficking for labor exploitation involving four male victims. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor
occurred primarily in the informal economy, especially in the agricultural,
commercial, and industrial sectors. The worst forms of child labor occurred
in agriculture on small third-party farms in the formal sector and on family
farms in the informal sector. Forced child labor reportedly occurred in some
service sectors, such as agriculture, construction, fishing, street vending,
and domestic service, and some children were subject to commercial sexual
exploitation (see section 6, Children). Authorities suspected that adults
used children to transport or sell drugs; some of these children may have
been trafficking victims. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/costa-rica/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS ENJOY
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Despite legal
protections, domestic workers, particularly migrant workers, are subject to
exploitation and forced labor. Employers often ignore minimum wage and social
security laws, and the resulting fines for violations are insignificant.
Child labor is a problem in the informal economy. Sex trafficking and
child sex tourism are also serious problems. The US State Department’s 2019
Trafficking in Persons Report noted an increased number of investigations and
convictions, less impunity for complicit government officials, and a 2018
amendment that strengthened an existing antitrafficking
law to include penalties for force, fraud, and coercion. However, the report
noted continued issues with the expenditures and designation of antitrafficking funds and the government’s failure to
consistently execute referral mechanisms in a prompt or effective manner. 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 26 April
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 325] Children in Costa
Rica engage in the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual
exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking. Children also
perform dangerous tasks in agriculture. (1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6) During the
reporting period, the government published an analysis of the 2016 child
labor survey indicating that the number of working children below Costa
Rica’s minimum age for employment (age 15) fell nearly 43 percent between
2011 and 2016. The survey also noted that the highest percentages of working
children in Costa Rica are concentrated in the following activities:
cultivating vegetables, raising cattle for the production of milk,
constructing buildings, repairing motor vehicles, selling fruits and
vegetables, working in grocery stores, restaurants, and beauty salons, and
performing domestic work. (7; 8) Children in Costa
Rica, including migrant children, are subjected to commercial sexual
exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, particularly in
tourist destinations and border areas. (4; 5; 6). Child Trafficking Network
Arrested in Costa Rica Claire [accessed 9
September 2014] At 6am this morning
the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) broke up another human
trafficking ring, which was dedicated exclusively to the trafficking of
minors less than 1 year of age. A total of 14 arrests were made,
including a female Family Judge who had been working in Liberia for 15 years
on cases including adoption of minors. Her computer and documents were
confiscated from the OIJ in Liberia to undergo investigation in San Jose. The judge was said
to be facilitating the sale of the minors who were obtained either illegally
or purchased from poor and indigenous families who did not want the children
for around $50 each, for a portion of the profits. They then sold the
children for an estimated $10,000. The group would contact pregnant
women in free clinics who could not afford the children and then have them put
up for adoption. Authorities Probe
Possible Child-Trafficking Network Tim Rogers, The Tico
Times Online, Daily Edition: At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 4
September 2011] Child Welfare
Agency (PANI) and judicial authorities yesterday continued to investigate a
possible international child-trafficking network operating out of Costa Rica: Female Labour Migrants and Trafficking in Women and Children [PDF] Ana Isabel García, Manuel Barahona, Carlos
Castro & Enrique Gomáriz, GENPROM Working Paper
No. 2, Series on Women and Migration, Gender Promotion Programme,
International Labour Office www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_117928.pdf [accessed 30 January
2011] [page 3] FOREWORD - Changing labour
markets with globalization have increased both opportunities and pressures
for women to migrate. The migration process and employment in a country of
which they are not nationals can enhance women’s earning opportunities,
autonomy and empowerment, and thereby change gender roles and
responsibilities and contribute to gender equality. But they also expose
women to serious violation of their human rights. Whether in the recruitment
stage, the journey or living and working in another country, women migrant workers,
especially those in irregular situations, are vulnerable to harassment,
intimidation or threats to themselves and their families, economic and sexual
exploitation, racial discriminatio n and
xenophobia, poor working conditions, increased health risks and other forms
of abuse, including trafficking into forced labour,
debt bondage, involuntary servitude and situations of captivity. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 3 June 2005 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/costarica2005.html [accessed 30 January
2011] [35] The Committee
welcomes the proposed amendment of the Adoption Act as a follow up to its
previous recommendation to review its legislation in order to bring it in
full compliance with article 21 of the Convention and the 1993 Hague
Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of
Inter-country Adoption. But it remains concerned that this bill is still
pending with the Legislative Assembly and that the practice of private or
direct adoption which results in cases of trafficking is still not
effectively prohibited. Protection Project
- The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/costa.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Human Rights
Overview by Human Rights Watch – Defending
Human Rights Worldwide www.hrw.org/americas/costa-rica [accessed 30 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/277321.htm
[accessed 20 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/costa-rica/ [accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The law prohibits
forced or compulsory labor in cases that involve movement of the victim. The
law establishes criminal penalties for trafficking in persons crimes,
including forced labor--when they involve movement--with sentences of between
six and 10 years in prison. The penalty is increased to between eight and 16
years if the crime involves aggravating circumstances. The Trafficking in
Persons Prosecutor’s Unit reported four investigations of trafficking in
persons during the first six months of the year, including two persons forced
into domestic service. Two cases from previous years were still open; the
third case, which involved two minor victims, was ready for indictment; and
the fourth case, which involved five victims, one a minor, was still under
investigation. Penalties were generally sufficient to deter violations. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor
occurred primarily in the informal economy, especially in the agricultural,
commercial, and industrial sectors. The worst forms of child labor occurred
in agriculture on small third-party farms in the formal sector and on family
farms in the informal sector. The government’s 2016 National Household Survey
identified 30,369 working minors, representing 3.1 percent of the child
population between the ages 5-17. Forced child labor reportedly occurred in
some service sectors, such as construction, fishing, street vending, and
domestic service, and some children were subject to commercial sexual
exploitation. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61722.htm [accessed 7 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– Although the law prohibits the trafficking of women and minors for the
purpose of prostitution or forced labor, there is no comprehensive
legislation to address all forms of trafficking. The lack of a comprehensive
anti-trafficking law inhibited the government's ability to prosecute and
convict traffickers, and prosecutors relied on several criminal statutes to
bring traffickers to justice. There were reports that persons were trafficked
to, from, and within the country, most often for commercial sexual
exploitation. The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/costa-rica.htm [accessed 30 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 - The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a continuing
problem in Costa Rica, and is often associated with the country’s sex tourism
industry. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery – |
||||||||||||
