HomeNewsBriefBrazil Announces New Anti-Human Trafficking Measures
BRIEF

Brazil Announces New Anti-Human Trafficking Measures

BRAZIL / 28 FEB 2013 BY MIRIAM WELLS AND MICHAEL TATONE EN

Brazil has announced a three-year plan to combat human trafficking, including tougher border controls and a revision of the penal code, in a country where forced labor is believed to affect tens of thousands of people.

The Brazilian government plans to invest almost $3 million into creating ten new control posts in border towns, which will aim to provide victims’ services, and the training of 400 staff. The penal code will also be reformed to criminalize the illegal adoption of children, organ extraction, and forced labor, as news agency AFP reports.

"Brazil does not want to see its people trafficked, exploited, nor does it want to be a place where Latin American or African immigrants are exploited," said Human Rights Secretary Maria de Rosario.

The new project against human trafficking is the second national plan of the decade in Brazil and will last until 2016. The first national plan was implemented between 2008 and 2010.

InSight Crime Analysis

 One question is whether by committing $3 million to new border checks, Brazil is investing enough resources to make a dent in the problem. The country sees a significant number of people trafficked abroad: a report released last year by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice said nearly 500 Brazilian victims of human trafficking were identified as leaving the country between 2005 and 2011, with more than 70 per cent of those cases being sexual exploitation. Most of the sexual exploitation cases were found in Suriname, which is used as a transit country for trafficking victims to the Netherlands.

It is also worth questioning whether the reforms to the penal code will result in a higher number of successful prosecutions related to the crime. As noted by the US State Department, Brazilian laws already prohibit most forms of human trafficking -- however, during 2011 there were no prosecutions of internal sex trafficking, and investigations into 67 reports of transnational sex trafficking resulted in just two convictions.

Meanwhile, just seven convictions were secured related to slave labor cases. Slave labor is a particular problem in Brazil, estimated to affect up to 40,000 people, according to non-governmental organization (NGO) Catholic Relief Services. While the new national anti-human trafficking plan is also intended to crack down on slave labor recruitment, again, one of the most significant challenges will be ensuring that slave labor cases actually end with convictions in court. As InSight Crime has pointed out, slave labor in Brazil is linked to powerful financial interests, and thus far the judicial system has not proved to be an effective tool in combating the problem.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 8 APR 2022

Residents of Brazil's largest open-air drug market may have permanently relocated amidst renewed police interventions and the possible orders of…

BRAZIL / 17 MAR 2023

A report on the global cocaine trade has revealed how cocaine purity is rising in Europe and how Africa is…

COLOMBIA / 19 NOV 2021

A surge in US-bound migrants has been a boon to human smuggling rings in Ecuador – in a pattern that…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.