The study in the expanded Central American region aimed to assess trafficking in the region based on reliable information and data. Yet, the collection of accurate data posed a great challenge to researchers. First, as a result of the violence, abuse, coercion, trauma, and stigma associated with trafficking, victims are inclined to maintain their silence as is common for most victims of gross human rights violations.
Institutional disincentives, such as policies that criminalize
rather than protect victims and judicial proceedings, tend to revictimize
trafficked persons, further encouraging the silence. Second, public
accusations of social and political leaders are rare. As a social taboo,
the sex industry is kept veiled. Equally so, cultural norms including
notions of sexuality and gender foster an acceptance of the sexual
exploitation in trafficking.
These elements together ensure that
knowledge of trafficking activity remains anecdotal. Third, as is the
nature of the black market, essential information is guarded.
Traffickers work ahead of law enforcement, whose investigative
capacities are extremely limited by human, technical and financial
constraints. Corrupt police, immigration, other public functionaries and
the more powerful sectors of communities who in certain locations
have been shown to be involved in the trade also protect information.
Finally, the scant data that reaches government offices is often lost in
poor and inadequate management and coordination systems.
The most reliable and consistent information available to
researchers was from consulates, who often directly intervene in cases
of international trafficking affecting their nationals, and health service
providers both public and private who have regular access to and
contact with individuals in the commercial sex industry, including
trafficked persons and traffickers.
Even these sources admit that they
cannot offer a complete picture of the problem. In general, consulates
see only those individuals who have escaped their trafficking
experience; health officers, for their part, attend to only the most visible
populations who work in streets, parks, markets, relatively open bars
and other establishments. From all indications, the sector that includes
the greatest number of trafficking cases women and minors who are
trapped and/or are forced to remain undetected is the least accessible.
This overview seeks to examine key features of trafficking for
sexual exploitation in the region. These include: root causes and
vulnerabilities, trafficking networks, routes, existing responses by
government institutions and civil society, and applicable domestic and
international legislation. While the government and civil society
responses to trafficking have been minimal, researchers encountered a
keen interest and willingness from both these groups to participate in
formulating and implementing eradication strategies.
Many of the proposals offered by interviewees are reflected in the
recommendations. This research initiative was a first step in bringing
to light the brutal realities of sex trafficking in Central America and the
Caribbean. More targeted research remains necessary to strengthen and
complete our understanding of this modern practice in slavery.
Definitions and Key Concepts
It is widely agreed in principle that trafficking in persons is a
crime and a human rights violation. Further delineating its elements,
however, has and continues to pose challenges to researchers,
advocates and government actors. The long history of combating
trafficking, especially for purposes of sexual exploitation, has been
marked by an absence of unified understanding of the issue. The
consultations that initiated research in the region made clear that a
common view regarding trafficking does not yet exist.