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/DominicanRepublic.htm
The Dominican
Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and
forced labor. Dominican women are trafficked for commercial sexual
exploitation to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Panama,
Haiti, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Panama, Slovenia, Suriname, Switzerland,
Turkey, and Venezuela. A significant number of women, boys, and girls are
trafficked within the country for forced prostitution and domestic servitude.
In some cases, parents push children into prostitution to help support the
family. 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 the 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 International Organization for
Migration ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Haitian Children
Sold as Slave Laborers and Prostitutes Gary Younge in At one time this article
had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4
September 2011] On market day in
Dajabón, a bustling Dominican town on the Haitian border, you can pick up
many bargains if you know where to look. You can haggle the price of a live
chicken down to 40 pesos (72p); wrestle 10lb of macaroni from 60 to 50 pesos;
and, with some discreet inquiries, buy a Haitian child for the equivalent of
£54.22. There is a thriving trade in Haitian children in the Dominican Republic, where they are mostly used for domestic service, agricultural work or prostitution. - htcp ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices: Dominican Republic 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/dominican-republic/
[accessed 4 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Forced labor of
adults occurred in construction, agriculture, and services. Forced labor of
children also occurred (see section 7.c.). The law applies
equally to all workers regardless of nationality, but Haitian workers’ lack
of documentation and uncertain legal status in the country made them more
vulnerable to forced labor. NGO representatives reported many irregular
Haitian laborers and citizens of Haitian descent did not exercise their
rights due to fear of being fired or deported. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The porous border
with Haiti allowed some Haitian children to be trafficked into the country,
where they were forced into commercial sexual exploitation or forced to work
in agriculture, often alongside their parents, or in domestic work, street
vending, or begging (see also section 6). Children were also used in illicit
activities including drug trafficking. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/dominican-republic/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July 2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Many workers in the
country are employed informally, leaving them without legal protections. The Dominican
Republic remains a source, transit, and destination country for the
trafficking of men, women and children for sexual exploitation and forced
labor. Haitians who lack documentation and clear legal status are
particularly susceptible to forced labor. The 2019 Trafficking in Persons
report issued by the US State Department noted that the government had been
more active in addressing trafficking, including by prosecuting and
convicting more people on trafficking charges. However, it noted that
victims’ services remained insufficient. 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 27 April
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 358] Children in the
Dominican Republic engage in commercial sexual exploitation, particularly in
coastal, touristic locations. The porous border between Haiti and the
Dominican Republic has allowed some children to be trafficked into the
Dominican Republic, where they have been engaged in commercial sexual
exploitation or forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, street vending,
or begging. (24; 32; 1; 14; 2; 33; 3) Some children, including Haitian
children and Dominican-born children of Haitian descent, work in sugarcane
production often alongside their parents, and live in communities that often
lack basic services, including schools. (6; 11; 34; 13; 12; 14; 15; 35)
Children of undocumented migrant parents, many of Haitian descent, are
particularly vulnerable to labor exploitation because many lack birth or
residency documents. (34; 36; 37; 1; 28; 2; 38; 39) During the reporting
period, the government extended the benefits of the National Regularization
Plan to offer an additional year of legal residency status to approximately
240,000 individuals with irregular immigration status and issued birth
certificates through the Central Electoral Board to more than 21,000. (40;
15; 41; 42; 43). Despite these efforts, many Dominican-born persons of
Haitian descent, including children, continue to remain in undocumented
status as a result of the 2013 Constitutional Tribunal Judgment and were not
able to obtain legal residency documents under Law 169-14 or the National
Plan to Regularize Foreigners during the reporting year. (15; 44; 45; 46; 41;
47) In addition, Haitian children who remain in the Dominican Republic after
their parents have been repatriated to Haiti due to their undocumented status
are more vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor. (34; 48; 49). Dominican tour
operators are questioned for human trafficking DominicanToday, www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2006/8/1/16012/Dominican-tour-operators-are-questioned-for-human-trafficking [accessed 2 February
2011] The Justice
Ministry’s People Trafficking Department director said yesterday that
it investigates several tour operators accused of organizing group trips to
Europe, the Middle East and South America, but who return to the country
alone. 30,000
Haitian children smuggled annually Nov 8, 2005 --
Source: english.peopledaily.com.cn/200511/08/eng20051108_219788.html [accessed 4
September 2014] Around 30,000
Haitian children are illegally smuggled into the Ending Modern Day
Slavery: U.S. Efforts To Combat Trafficking in Persons Paula J. Dobriansky,
Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Remarks to the Northern
California World Affairs Council, 2001-2009.state.gov/g/rls/rm/2004/31063.htm [accessed 17 July
2013] The report has
already been successful in encouraging countries with trafficking problems to
take concrete steps. Last year, countries listed on tier three were
potentially subject to sanctions requiring the loss of most non-humanitarian
and non-trade-related assistance from the U.S. This could have meant the loss
of U.S. military aid, educational and cultural assistance, and support from
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This approach yielded
results -- a number of countries on Tier 3 acted quickly once the report came
out. Belize, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Turkey,
and six other nations were reassessed as Tier 2 countries as a result of
their efforts after initially being placed on Tier 3. Human Rights Watch
World Report 1989: Human Rights Watch
World Report 1989 www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Dominica.htm [accessed 2 February
2011] The Annual jaunt offers
Canadians a Third World view Tony Gosgnach, The
Interim, May 2004 www.theinterim.com/2004/may/11annual.html [accessed 2 February
2011] www.theinterim.com/issues/society-culture/annual-jaunt-offers-canadians-a-third-world-view/ [accessed 31 January
2019] In the Dominican
Republic, volunteers tend to Haitians who work in the sugar cane fields.
These labourers usually make just $1.20 (Cdn) for a 12 to 16-hour day that
stretches into a six-day week.
"You're looking at modern-day slavery, that's what it is,"
says Petrone. "They live on the cane fields, including the children. Debt Bondage - Slavery Around the World [PDF] Development and
Peace & Anti-Slavery International, June 1999 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 4
September 2011] SUGAR CANE WORKERS
FROM Modern Slavery -
Human bondage in Africa, Asia, and the Dominican Republic Ricco Villanueva
Siasoco, Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease, April 18, 2001 www.infoplease.com/spot/slavery1.html [accessed 2 February
2011] CANE-CUTTERS IN THE Trafficking in
Women from the Dominican Republic for Sexual Exploitation June 1996 [PDF] Migration
Information Programme, Budapest 1054, Hungary, International Organization for
Migration (IOM), 1995 www.oas.org/atip/country%20specific/TIP%20DR%20IOM%20REPORT.pdf [accessed 2 February
2011] www.oas.org/en/cim/docs/Trafficking-Paper%5BEN%5D.pdf [accessed 31 January
2019] THE PROBLEM - Sources in the
Dominican Republic state that their country has the fourth highest number in
the world of women working overseas in the sex trade, after Thailand, Brazil
and the Philippines. The number of Dominican sex workers currently abroad is
estimated to be more than 50,000 women.
The main concentrations of these women are to be found in Austria,
Curaçao, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Italy, The Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico,
Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela and the West Indies. The international sex work is viewed by
many sources in the country as a concrete alternative for young, impoverished
women who cannot find job opportunities at home. Obviously, exploitation,
violence, deception, violation of rights and deportation are the common
denominators of this type of irregular migration. Protection Project - Country Report [DOC] The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/dominican.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Dominican women
who were trafficked to In February 2002, a
woman from the Dominican Republic was jailed for 5 years in Costa Rica for
trafficking young Dominican girls to Costa Rica, where they were sexually
exploited. She and her business partner, a Dominican man, would offer young
girls in the Dominican Republic a job as a waitress or in a hotel in Costa
Rica. Most of the victims were between 14 and 18 years of age. The girls
would then be flown from Santo Domingo to San José, where they would be
transported to the tourist town of Quepos (on the
Pacific coast) and to Siquirres (on the Atlantic
side) where they would be sexually exploited.
Haitian girls have
been trafficked along the border with the Dominican Republic, and thousands
of Haitian children reportedly have been trafficked into the Dominican
Republic, where they are forced to beg in the streets or perform manual
labor. One study revealed
that the majority of Dominican female migrants in Argentina were 20 to 39
years of age and almost 90 percent had children, most of whom
were left in the Dominican Republic in the care of others. The majority of
women paid US$2,000 for the trip to Argentina, where they were promised work
as domestic helpers for US$500 to US$800 per month. More than 50 percent had
been forced into prostitution. Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/americas/dominican-republic [accessed 2 February
2011] ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/dominican-republic.htm [accessed 2 February
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 - There are reports that women and children are
trafficked to, from, and within the Dominican Republic, particularly for the
purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.
There are also reports that poor children are trafficked internally to
work as domestics. Haitian children
are reportedly trafficked to the 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/277327.htm
[accessed 21 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/dominican-republic/ [accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Haitian workers’
lack of documentation and legal status in the country made them vulnerable to
forced labor. Although specific data on the problem were limited, Haitian nationals
reportedly experienced forced labor in the service, construction, and
agricultural sectors. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor
occurred primarily in the informal economy, small businesses, private
households, and the agricultural sector. In particular there were reports
children worked in the production of garlic, potatoes, coffee, sugarcane,
tomatoes, and rice. Children often accompanied their parents to work in
agricultural fields. NGOs also reported many children worked in the service
sector in a number of jobs, including as domestic servants, street vendors
and beggars, shoe shiners, and car window washers. The commercial sexual
exploitation of children remained a problem, especially in popular tourist
destinations and urban areas (see section 6, Children). Many children who
worked as domestic servants were victims of forced labor. There were credible
reports that poor Haitian families arranged for Dominican families to “adopt”
their children. In some cases adoptive parents reportedly did not treat the
children as full family members, expecting them to work in the household or
family businesses rather than attend school, which resulted in a kind of
indentured servitude for children and adolescents. There were also reports of
forced labor of children in street vending and begging, agriculture,
construction, and moving of illicit narcotics. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61725.htm [accessed 8 February
2020] NATIONAL/RACIAL/ETHNIC
MINORITIES - The IOM estimated that approximately 650 thousand
Haitian immigrants--or 7.5 percent of the country's population--lived in
shantytowns or sugarcane work camps known as bateyes,
which were harsh environments with limited or no electricity, usually no
running water, and no adequate schooling. Although some Haitians were brought
to the country specifically to work in sugarcane camps, many had no
documentation. Human rights NGOs, the Catholic Church, and activists
described Haitian living conditions in bateyes as
modern-day slavery. TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that 50
thousand Dominican women worked in prostitution around the world and of these
women, one third were victims of trafficking. Women 18 to 25
years of age were at the highest risk of being trafficked. Many victims were
uneducated single mothers desperate to improve the living conditions of their
children. NGOs estimated that
there were hundreds of alien smuggling and trafficking rings operating within
the country. According to the Human Rights
Reports » 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor, February 23, 2000 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/1999/384.htm [accessed 17 July
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/1999/384.htm [accessed 27 April
2020] NATIONAL/RACIAL/ETHNIC
MINORITIES
- Although the Government has largely eliminated the use of children for
cutting sugar cane, poor Haitian and Dominican parents sometimes arrange for
Dominican families to "adopt" and employ their children. The
adopting parents can simply register a child of any age as their own. In
exchange, the parents receive monetary payment or a supply of clothes and
food. They believe that this ensures their children a more promising future.
In many cases, adoptive parents do not treat the adoptees as full family
members and expect them to work in the households or family businesses rather
than attend school. The effect is a kind of bondage, at least until the young
person reaches his majority. There were reports that Haitian girls between
the ages of 10 and 14 were the most sought after, especially in border areas. 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 – |
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