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/Portugal.htm
Portugal is a
destination, transit, and a source country for women, men, and children
trafficked from Brazil, and to a lesser extent, from Ukraine, Moldova,
Russia, Romania, and Africa for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation
and forced labor. The majority of trafficking victims identified in Portugal
are Brazilian women trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Male
victims from Eastern European countries are trafficked for forced labor into
the farming and construction industries. According to a 2008 ILO Report,
Portuguese men are also trafficked to Western Europe for forced labor.
Trafficking victims also transit through Portugal to other European
countries. There are an
estimated 50-100 Roma children in Portugal, brought by family
networks; some are trafficked for the purpose of forced begging. - U.S.
State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Portugal. 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. HELP for Victims International Organization for
Migration ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** PORTUGAL-BRAZIL:
Human Trafficking and Marriages - Another Link Mario de Queiroz, Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, Lisbon, Oct
11, 2006 www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35071 [accessed 19
December 2010] www.ipsnews.net/2006/10/portugal-brazil-human-trafficking-and-marriages-another-link/ [accessed 26
September 2016] Brazil’s influence
in Portugal is not limited to music, television programming, football,
cuisine and tropical beach vacations. Today it is also
the main source of victims of human trafficking to Portugal, women who fall into
prostitution and sexual exploitation networks, as well as a source of large
numbers of women who marry Portuguese men.
Brazil is the favourite country for
traffickers who form part of the prostitution networks that have mushroomed
in Portugal, which is a springboard to wealthier European Union destinations,
according to studies presented at a seminar organised
Monday and Tuesday by the governmental Portuguese Youth Institute (IPJ). ***
ARCHIVES *** Portuguese police
halt human trafficking network, 20 women freed Reuters, Lisbon, 4
June 2019 news.trust.org/item/20190604160311-9danr [accessed 5 June
2019] www.euronews.com/2019/06/04/portuguese-police-halt-human-trafficking-network-20-women-freed [accessed 5 June
2019] SEF said in a
statement that the traffickers, operating in Portugal and other European
countries, used "persuasion, manipulation and intimidation" to take
advantage of around 20 vulnerable women with no financial means or family
support. "The women
were used as objects to make money in order to pay debts and 'commissions'
imposed by the leader of the criminal group," SEF said. "They were
considered and treated as 'things' or 'objects' which provided huge financial
gains." 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal 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/portugal/
[accessed 21 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR According to the
Portuguese Observatory on Trafficking in Human Beings, foreign labor
trafficking victims were exploited in agriculture, construction, and domestic
service, while Portuguese victims were exploited in restaurants, agriculture,
and domestic service. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor
occurred in very limited cases. Children of Romani descent were subjected to
labor trafficking through forced begging and forced criminality by coercing
them to commit property crimes (also see section 6, Children). Sub-Saharan
trafficking networks increasingly used the country as a route into the
Schengen area to exploit children in sex trafficking and forced labor. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/portugal/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? The authorities
generally enforce legal safeguards against exploitative working conditions.
However, Portugal remains a destination and transit point for victims of
human trafficking, particularly those from Eastern Europe, Asia, and West
Africa. Although forced labor is prohibited by law, there have been some
reports of the practice, especially in the agriculture, hospitality, and
construction sectors, and in domestic service. Immigrant workers are
especially vulnerable to economic exploitation. G3. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY PERSONAL SOCIAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING CHOICE OF MARRIAGE PARTNER AND SIZE
OF FAMILY, PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND CONTROL OVER APPEARANCE? There are no major
restrictions on personal social freedoms. Portugal legalized same-sex
marriage in 2010 and extended adoption rights to same-sex couples in 2015. A
2018 law eliminated the need for transgender people to obtain a medical
certificate to formally change their gender or first name. Domestic violence
remains a problem despite government efforts aimed at prevention, education,
and victim protection. The CoE is concerned that
the definition of rape is not based solely on the absence of free consent but
requires that there be “duress.” The
European Commission has started an infringement procedure against Portugal
for not applying rules against the sexual abuse of minors. OSCE is a important player to combat against human trafficking UzReport, 12 September 2007 www.turkishweekly.net/news/48455/osce-is-a-important-player-to-combat-against-human-trafficking.html [accessed 19
December 2010] [accessed 19
December 2010] "In Portugal,
we are reviewing the definition of trafficking to expand it from
transnational trafficking to encompass internal trafficking," he said,
adding that the new Immigration Law allows foreign victims to get a one-year
residency permit. He also said
Portugal had created a centre for trafficking monitoring and proposed that a
similar centre be created for trafficking monitoring across Europe. Consideration of
reports submitted by States parties under Article 18 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [PDF] Seventh periodic
report of States parties -- Portugal UN Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Report CEDAW/C/PRT/7, 29 January
2008 www.iwraw-ap.org/resources/pdf/42_official_documents/portugalPRT7.pdf [accessed 8
September 2014] www.refworld.org/publisher,CEDAW,,PRT,47ea26022,0.html [accessed 5 May
2020] [page 23] RESEARCH AND
MONITORING
- The following are some of the conclusions reached by the first study in
Portugal on trafficking in women for sexual exploitation: Portugal is one of
the destinations in Western Europe, although the incidence is considered
medium rather than high. The picture may, however, be blacker because of the
hidden nature of the problem. The data indicate
that, in Portugal, most victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are
Brazilian, followed by women from Eastern Europe (especially Romania) and
Africa, with the numbers of Nigerian women increasing. The women come from
fragile social settings and they are usually poor and have dependents,
especially children, which makes them particularly vulnerable to trafficking
networks. These women are young, usually no older than 35. Their youth has to
do with the requirements of clients, and therefore of pimps, and there are
more and more cases involving minors, a situation that can be expected to
worsen further. Data on the profile
of traffickers show that, as a rule, Portuguese nationals are involved in
these networks. In most cases they own the establishments and coordinate
activities and the resulting profits. They also perform other jobs such as
minders and carriers (e.g. drivers or even taxi drivers). Foreigners are
usually involved as the victims’ recruiters, carriers and sometimes
controllers CAIM - Cooperation,
Action, Investigation, World View The UN
Secretary-General's database on violence against women, 2004 sgdatabase.unwomen.org/searchDetail.action?measureId=22423&baseHREF=country&baseHREFId=1053 [accessed 28 June
2013] [accessed 5 May
2020] In order to promote
cooperation in combating trafficking in women for sexual exploitation and to
support and protect its victims, Portugal has fostered public and private
institutions consolidating and implementing projects funded by European Union
(EU) initiatives, such as CAIM - Cooperação/Acção Investigação/Mundivisão [Cooperation, Action, Investigation, World
View] funded by the EU EQUAL Initiative, which had its greatest impact
between 2004 and 2008. CAIM is a
groundbreaking project in Portugal and involves a partnership taking multiple
actions to deal with the problem of trafficking. One of the institutions was
a non-governmental organization - the Family Planning Association. In addition to
articles in national newspapers and participation in television programmes, the CAIM project for combating trafficking in
women for sexual exploitation, waged campaigns aimed at present and future
media professionals. The first phase included awareness-raising sessions on
the problem for 30 journalists and 50 future journalists. In the second
phase, the media professionals had the opportunity to design spots and
compete to win a prize awarded by the project. Two of the 10 works created
were chosen and were widely broadcasted in October 2007. Migrant trafficking
and human smuggling: the situation in Portugal Published as Chapter
4 in a book by Bonifazi et al, INTERNATIONAL
MIGRATION IN EUROPE, Amsterdam University Press, 2008 Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 28 June
2013] Smuggling and
trafficking of migrants is a relatively new phenomenon in Portugal. Foreign
immigration, in itself, has begun in significant numbers in the late 1970s.
Only in the late 1980s frequent situations of irregular and illegal migration
occurred, and only in the late 1990s smuggling and/or trafficking became a
major concern of the general population and public authorities. It was
particularly the most recent waves of foreign immigration to the country,
namely the one coming from Eastern Europe and the “second wave” of Brazilian
immigration, that became involved with those irregular forms of channelling migrants. Report Details
Mixed Human Trafficking Picture in Europe, Eurasia Jeffrey Thomas, The
Washington File, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State, July 6, 2006 news.findlaw.com/wash/s/20060606/200606061819131.html [accessed 19
December 2010] Both the Czech
Republic and Portugal, which in 2005 were rated Tier 1 countries, have been
dropped to Tier 2. In the Czech Republic, there were “inadequate sentences
for traffickers,” the report said, and it also cited concerns over forced
labor. Portugal “failed to prescribe punishment sufficiently stringent to
deter trafficking” and “virtually all convictions for trafficking resulted in
suspended sentences in 2004,” the report said. Human Trafficking:
Data Collection, Current Trends and Institutional Approaches [PDF] João Peixoto,
11th International Metropolis Conference, Lisbon, 2-6 October 2006 www.ceg.ul.pt/metropolis2006/WorkshopPresentations/Gulbenkian/JoaoPeixoto_metropolis2006.pdf [accessed 19
December 2010] [accessed 21
February 2019] VICTIMS - – Mostly men
targeted for low skilled jobs in civil construction – Also some women,
targeted for domestic service and, occasionally, pushed for the sex industry. Counter Trafficking
Training for Religious Personnel, November 6, 2006 United States
Embassy to the Holy See, 6 November 2006 At one time this article
had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 28 August
2011] Most recently, nearly
40 nuns from Portuguese speaking countries were given intensive training in
Lisbon by IOM in a bid to strengthen their ability to help victims of human
trafficking. The nuns, from Angola, Brazil, Guinea Bissau, S. Tomé and
Príncipe, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Portugal, received general information
on human trafficking with a focus on the social implications of human
trafficking, criminal networks and their recruitment methods, how to empower
victims and how to protect staff involved in assistance programs from
psychological burn-out. Technology Is a
Double-Edged Sword: Illegal Human Trafficking in the Information Age Judge Mohamed CHAWKI
and Dr. Mohamed WAHAB, Computer Crime Research Center, March 05, 2005 www.crime-research.org/articles/Mohamed2/4 [accessed 19
December 2010] In Portugal, a new
immigration Act criminalizes new categories of trafficking and increases
penalties for traffickers, but laws on false documentation, extortion, fraud
and other criminal activities were also used to prosecute and convict
traffickers. According to the Border and Foreigner Service (SEF), 329
trafficking-related investigations were undertaken in 2002-03, of these, four
Ukrainians were sentenced from two and a half to nine years for related
crimes; 3 Portuguese citizens were sentenced between seven and 15 years for
involvement in a human trafficking network of 3,000 victims; and 16
defendants were charged with forced labor, trafficking and kidnapping of more
than 300 Brazilian and Moldovan women forced into prostitution. Portugal braced as
child prostitution ring trial opens Giles Tremlett and agencies in Lisbon, The Guardian, 26
November 2004 www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/26/childprotection.uk [accessed 19
December 2010] Portugal's
highest-profile trial for years began at a Lisbon court yesterday with a leading
television presenter, a former ambassador and five others accused of
involvement in a child prostitution ring which allegedly abused orphanage
children over a period of 20 years. The Protection
Project - Portugal [DOC] The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS),
The Johns Hopkins University www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/portugal.doc [accessed 2009] FACTORS THAT
CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - Organized crime is a large
contributor to trafficking in Portugal. It was reported in 2000 that as many
as 75,000 women from Brazil had been smuggled into European countries by way
of Portugal in a huge operation involving up to 100 organized crime gangs.
Criminal networks have been responsible for trafficking Brazilian women
through Portugal to the United Kingdom and for trafficking women from
multiple countries into Portugal. FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Women are
trafficked to Portugal for prostitution. In 2001, Brazilian authorities investigated
possible Brazilian police involvement in a smuggling ring that sent Brazilian
women to Spain and Portugal, where they were forced into prostitution.
Authorities believed that the operation, which involved mostly minors, was
tied to the mafia on the Iberian Peninsula. An estimated 500 Brazilian women
were victims of the ring. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** 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/2005/61669.htm [accessed 10
February 2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The country is a destination for men and women trafficked from Ukraine,
Moldova, Russia, Romania, and Brazil for the purposes of forced labor and
sexual exploitation. There were reports that immigrant children were used for
street begging. Some trafficking victims were transited through the country
to other European countries. Most trafficked persons were Eastern European
males who ended up working in construction or in other low-wage industries,
such as textile manufacturing, woodworking, metalworking, and marble cutting.
Some trafficked women (mostly from Eastern Europe and Brazil) worked as
prostitutes. Trafficked persons usually lived in hiding in poor conditions,
often with little or no sanitation facilities and in cramped spaces. Some
trafficked workers were not paid, and some were "housed" within the
factory or construction site. Moldovan, Russian, and Ukrainian organized
crime groups reportedly conducted most of the trafficking of Eastern
Europeans. The traffickers frequently demanded additional payments and a
share of earnings following their victims' arrival in the country, usually
under threat of physical harm. They often withheld the identification
documents of the trafficked persons and threatened to harm family members who
remained in the country of origin. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/portugal/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 5 May 2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Portugal is a
destination and transit point for victims of human trafficking, particularly
women from Eastern Europe and former Portuguese colonies in South America and
Africa. Although forced labor is prohibited by law, there have been some
reports of the practice, especially in the agriculture, hospitality, and
construction sectors. Immigrant workers are especially vulnerable to economic
exploitation. 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 - Portugal",
http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Portugal.htm, [accessed <date>] |
