Recruiting strategies and entrance into sex trafficking appear in numerous forms throughout the region. The following means of induction were detected:
Deception/False Promise of Employment - This strategy of
recruitment of women and adolescents is by far the most common.
Known and unknown persons present attractive offers for jobs as
waitresses, dancers, bartenders, factory workers (maquiladoras),
domestic laborers, and models, among other positions. Adolescents
may travel with legitimate parental permission, the families having
been victim of the deception as well. This type of trafficking was
detected for domestic and international destinations.
Misadventure - Increasingly, women and adolescents in
pursuit of employment or adventure will seize opportunities to be
transported outside their home country. Young women petition for
rides with truck drivers traveling north to Mexico and the United
States. Migrant smugglers are also used. In both these circumstances,
authorities reported that abandonment of the women was frequent. Far
from home and lacking finances, many of these women and adolescents
are pressed into prostitution.
In one case, a bar owner reportedly paid
for the release of a young woman in custody for immigration
violations, and upon that debt forced the adolescent into prostitution.43
In Tecun Uman, one local NGO reported that residents serve as
recruiters for women. Reportedly, the recruiters are paid according to
the amount of time the woman stays.
Abduction - Reports of children being abducted and trafficked
for commercial sexual exploitation were received, although it appears
to occur to a lesser extent than other means of trafficking.
Gang related - In Honduras and El Salvador, young women
and adolescent gang members were reported to have been trafficked for
sexual exploitation in order to raise capital for the gang.
Peer-influenced - Trafficking of children, often homeless,
runaways or seeking an escape from a troubled home, was reported to
occur as a result of peer recruitment. Such cases appeared to be largely
limited to domestic movement.
Family controlled - A few reports of parents or guardians
allowing their children to enter into circumstances of sexual
exploitation were reported, but this appears to occur only on a very
minor scale. More often, family members who may have been
trafficked themselves or are in the sex trade become recruiters for
younger relatives. This latter case was particularly evident in the
Dominican Republic.
Marriage fraud - In the Dominican Republic, foreign men
have been reported to pursue marriages with local women in order to
take them abroad for purposes of prostitution.
Visa system – Panama presents atypical circumstances of a
state sponsored migration program for sex workers. This system is
commonly abused and participating women are trafficked as a
consequence.
In most cases, it appears that there is material deception
as to the conditions of employment. While women are recruited under
guaranteed contract provisions, none of the terms are met upon arrival.
In addition, passports and other travel documents are confiscated and
earnings are often withheld.