Among the destination countries, Spain is by far the most common destination country for Brazilian women. It is followed by the Netherlands, Venezuela, Italy, Portugal, Paraguay, Switzerland, the USA, Germany, Suriname, Israel, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Japan, French Guiana, Peru, and Taiwan.
Unlike domestic trafficking, where adolescents were among
the most frequently trafficked, international routes are primarily
allocated to trafficking women. However, once again in evaluating this
phenomena, these statistics must be considered in light of the tendency
when trafficking older adolescents to identify them as being 18 years
old or older.
Finally, the linkage between trafficking and organized crime
appears most clearly in connection with international trafficking. For
example, trafficking to Spain (the most popular destination) almost
always involves the "Iberian Connection", a collaboration of a number
of criminal organizations, of which the Russian Mafia appears
dominant. The Russian Mafia is reported to make US$8 billion per
year through its brothels in Portugal and Spain.
D. THE LAW AND TRAFFICKING IN BRAZIL
In 2005, subsequent to and possibly in small part as a
consequence of this study, Brazil enacted a number of reforms to
improve its laws relating to trafficking. However, in doing so, it did
not enact a comprehensive and/or specialized law on trafficking.
Instead, it regulates the problem through individual articles included in
provisions of the penal code related to prostitution or children. As
noted by the US Department of State, these provisions remain
inadequate.
I. The Law
Recent changes in Brazilian criminal law now criminalizes
trafficking under two rubrics. The first and original formulation of the
law in Brazil, trafficking was strictly an international activity, defined as:
Promoting or facilitating the entry of women who
practices prostitution in the national territory, or the
exit of women who will practice prostitution
abroad.
Since 2005, Brazil plugged a gapping hole in the law by
proscribing domestic trafficking, which it defines as:
To promote, to intermediate or to facilitate, in the
domestic territory, the conscription, the transport, the
transference, the lodging or the shelter of the person
who comes to practice prostitution.
For both crimes, the statute provides a penal sanction of three
to eight years of imprisonment for this basic crime plus fines.
Punishment may be extended based upon a number of aggravating
factors. The punishment may be extended (four to ten years) if "the
victim is older than 14 and under 18 or the person who is responsible
for her education, treatment and guardianship".
It may be extended (five to twelve years) if there is "use of violence, serious threat or
fraud," if the woman has "mental problems...[or cannot] offer
resistance for any other reason...and the offender is aware of that". If
the trafficking involved children and adolescents under fourteen years
of age, or if violence was used against children between the ages of
14 and 18, the penalty can be extent to 12 to 25 years.
If the trafficking was for purposes of making a profit, not an
element of the basic crime, the perpetrator is also subject to a fine.