Human Trafficking in [Dominican Republic Street Children in [Dominican Republic] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Dominican Republic] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the first ten years of the 21st
Century - 2000 to 2009
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. [full country
report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Haitian Children Sold as Slave Laborers and Prostitutes www.gnn.tv/headlines/5161/Haitian_Children_Sold_as_Slave_Laborers_and_Prostitutes At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There are reports that women and children are trafficked to, from,
and within the Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 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 Dominican tour
operators are questioned for human trafficking 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 Around 30,000 Haitian children are
illegally smuggled into the Haitian Children Sold as Slave Laborers and Prostitutes www.gnn.tv/headlines/5161/Haitian_Children_Sold_as_Slave_Laborers_and_Prostitutes At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 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 Protection Project - Country Report [DOC] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Dominican women who were
trafficked to Costa Rica had been offered jobs as waitresses or in Costa Rican
hotels, but they were subsequently sexually exploited in Costa Rican tourist
destinations and areas close to port cities.
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. Ending Modern Day Slavery: U.S. Efforts To Combat
Trafficking in Persons www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/2004/31063.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 Publications: Dominican
Republic The United States has largely
failed to address the serious abuses that plague Haitian sugar-cane cutters
on Dominican government-operated plantations, such as forced recruitment and
labor, restrictions on freedom of movement and association, inadequate living
conditions and dangerous working conditions. Because it is the Dominican
Republic's largest trading partner and the largest consumer of Dominican
sugar, the U.S. is in a position to take the lead in demanding that the
Dominican government correct these practices. Annual
jaunt offers Canadians a Third World view 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] SUGAR CANE WORKERS FROM HAITI -
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Nearly
200 years after a successful revolution against slavery in their own country,
Haitians are experiencing conditions akin to slavery on state plantations in
the neighbouring Dominican Republic. Following many
years of international complaints, the government of the Dominican Republic
changed its labour code in 1992 to include
protection of workers against gross exploitation. Conditions have improved
somewhat on privately-owned sugar plantations, but, according to evidence
from government-owned plantations, migrant workers from Haiti are still
experiencing near-slavery, including debt bondage, in the Dominican Republic. Modern
Slavery - Human bondage in Africa, Asia, and the Dominican Republic CANE-CUTTERS IN THE DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC - In the
Dominican Republic, the collection of slaves for the busy harvest season is
more random. The Dominican army, with the support of the State Sugar Council
(known as the CEA), "hauls Haitians off public buses, arrests them in
their homes or at their jobs, and delivers them to the cane fields,"
according to Charles Jacobs. Some of
the cane-cutters sign on to work voluntarily. When the number of workers does
not meet the harvest's demand, the Dominican army is set into action. The
army's captives are forced to work at gunpoint and beaten if they try to
escape. Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Dominican Republic 2001 6f. Trafficking in Persons The law
prohibits trafficking in persons; however, trafficking in women and children
from, to, and within the country remains a serious problem. Women 18 to 25
years of age are at the highest risk for being trafficked. According to a
report released in July by the International Organization for Migration
(IOM), principal destination countries are in Europe and Latin America,
including Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Greece,
Belgium, Curacao, San Martin, Aruba, Panama, Venezuela, and Argentina. Women
are trafficked to the United States, although in smaller numbers. Within the
country, there is a serious problem of prostitution of minors, primarily in
the tourist areas (see Section 5). Women and children also are trafficked
from Haiti and often are forced to beg in the streets. Poor Haitian and Dominican parents
sometimes arrange for more prosperous Dominican families to "adopt"
their children, in exchange for money or goods; such children often are
expected to work long hours and are vulnerable to sexual abuse (see Section
5). Trafficking
In Women From The Dominican Republic For Sexual Exploitation [PDF] 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. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Dominican Republic Street Children in [Dominican Republic] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Dominican Republic] [other countries]