Trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation in Central America and the Caribbean is an undeniable reality that is occurring within and without national borders. The following overview will explore the most salient features of the practice.
Risk Factors
Relating to the Individual
Throughout the region, government and private practitioners
identify the same bundle of individual factors that contribute to making
certain persons vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation. None
of these factors are determinative, but their existence in a field littered
with demand for commercial sexual services and criminal networks
functioning with impunity increases the risk of falling into a trafficking
cycle.
Studies in other regions of the world have also identified these
elements as contributing to trafficking; their degree of intensity in
Central America and the Caribbean directly contribute to the level of
trafficking activity that occurs.
For women, the pursuit of the basic needs of food, clothing
and shelter and the lack of employment alternatives at home are
primary elements contributing to their vulnerability. Compounding
economic need are other factors such as sole responsibility for children,
illiteracy or minimal education, and lack of training or technical skills.
A history of physical or sexual abuse also appears to contribute to a risk
of being trafficked.
The economic and educational factors are clearly illustrated on
a macro level. Just within the region, source countries (Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) suffer
from the lowest gross national product relative to the destination points
for their nationals (Costa Rica, Panama and Belize). Comparatively,
countries of origin also face the highest youth illiteracy rates and the
lowest female primary school entrance rates.
Many of the individual researchers and service providers
consulted commented on the need for real employment alternatives to
reduce the risk of women being trafficked and, especially, retrafficked.
Victims of sex trafficking are being paid, and while the level is poor, in
many cases it remains significantly higher than other options.
Where female labor training programs do exist, they have focused on
beautician skills, sewing and cooking. Most advocates reported that
these programs are largely ineffective.
In 1995, a study on adult prostitution in Panama concluded that "the
lack of housing, unemployment and economic reasons were the most
common causes among those interviewed, representing 42.5% of the
total.
Another important indicator is the corruptive influence that the
[sex worker] was a victim to by friends, neighbors or familiar persons,
reflecting 26%; family disintegration and abandonment also were part
of the principal causes of her current lifestyle, registering 22% and 16%
respectively. Sexual abuses were other diversion motives, but to a
lesser extent, with 12%".