Human Trafficking in [Dominican Republic Street Children in [Dominican Republic] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Dominican Republic] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Dominican Republic [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The 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. A large
number of Dominican women are trafficked into prostitution and sexual
exploitation in Western Europe, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica,
Panama, Haiti, and other Caribbean destinations. A significant number of
women, boys, and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual
exploitation and domestic servitude. In some cases, poor parents push
children into prostitution to increase the family’s income. Sex tourism and
child sex tourism are problems, particularly in coastal resort areas. Sex
tourists, including child predators, typically arrive from Western Europe
(i.e., Spain, Italy, and Germany), though some Canadian and U.S. citizens may
be offenders as well. Some Haitian nationals who migrate voluntary to the
Dominican Republic are subsequently subjected to forced labor in the service,
construction, and agricultural sectors; in some cases, the irregular status
of these migrants, which places them at risk for deportation, leaves them
vulnerable to trafficking by unscrupulous employers. Many of these victims
live in bateyes—which can resemble shantytowns— or other squalid living
conditions. Some Haitian children, known as restaveks, are reportedly
trafficked into conditions of domestic servitude. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [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 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. ***
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 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. 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 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. … arrest of a ring of child
brothel owners in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which included the
mothers of some of the teen victims. 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]