CECRIA (Reference, Study and Actions Center for Children and Adolescents) was engaged to develop the project for Brazil. This study was nationally coordinated by a group of non government organizations (NGOs) under the direction of CECRIA , in partnership with the International Human Rights Law Institute, supported by the Ministry of Justice and international agencies in the country, such as:
(a) North Region CEDECA Reptiblica de Ematis
and the International Labor Organization (ILO);
(b) Northeast Region
Forum de Enfrentamento da Exploracao Sexual Comercial de Crianças
e Adolescentes, Save the Children Sweden and POMMAR/USAID;
(c) Southeast Region Pacto de Säo Paulo and World Childhood
Foundation (WCF);
(d) Central West Region IBISS/CIRCO and
Ministry of Justice/Department of Children and Adolescents
(DCA/MJ);
(e) South Region Subcomissao de Direitos da Crianca e do
Adolescente, Legislative Assembly of Porto Alegre and USAID.
The study, identified by the acronym PESTRAF, was initiated
in June 2001. Regional teams began with workshops addressing the
conceptual, theoretical, methodological and operational issues relating
to the project. Work in the North Region commenced at that time,
followed by the Northeast Region in July, the Southeast Region in
September, the Central West Region in October, and the South Region
in March of 2002. A total of twenty states, cities and approximately
130 researchers contributed to this study.
Regional and/or national coordinators constantly monitor the
progress of regional teams through monthly research progress reports.
Government/judicial organizations furnished key data for this study
(such as investigations and legal proceedings), and case studies were
taken from primary and secondary data supplied by NGOs and the
media from 1996 to 2002.
Since the media has an important role in gathering information
on trafficking in Brazil, a comprehensive research of major national
newspapers was conducted and evaluated according to:
(a) relevance of the source of data;
(b) instruments used in gathering information; and
(c) the methods used by each State within Brazil to deal with the
trafficking.
Among the media sources used was a journalistic database,
from 1996 to 2001, organized by the national project coordinators that
contained significant, comprehensive and relevant country wide
information.
The PESTRAF team confronted many challenges including:
the geographical, social, economic and cultural diversities within and
between the regions; different levels of cooperation and mobilization
within Brazilian civil society and the local, regional and national
governments with respect to trafficking; and weak government
information systems.
In this report, we begin by developing a working definition of
the problem and some of the methodological and conceptual challenges
in researching it. We then map the overall characteristics of trafficking
in Brazil, including the socio economic and cultural conditions that
create vulnerable populations and drive trafficking.
We use the tool of identifying trafficking routes as a method of quantifying the scope of
the problem and some of the transactional aspects of trafficking. We
then turn to legal efforts to address the problem and conclude by
suggesting possible avenues by which to improve Brazilian efforts
against trafficking.