Central African Republic

							                                   Dominican Republic
Trafficking Routes

       The Dominican Republic is a major country of origin for trafficking in
women for commercial sexual exploitation. Along with Brazil and Colombia, the
Dominican Republic is the Latin American country most affected by trafficking.
According to one report, more women are trafficked from the Dominican Republic
than from any other country in the Western Hemisphere.1
       Routes from the Dominican Republic reach to the Caribbean (Aruba,
Curaçao, Haiti, St. Martin); South America (Argentina, Suriname, Venezuela);
Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama); and Europe (Austria,
France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland).2
       Some internal trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation also occurs, with
minors trafficked from the interior areas of the country to tourist destinations on
the coast.3

Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

        Lack of employment opportunities at home causes many Dominican
women and girls to seek jobs abroad. Poverty, marginalization, lack of birth
certificates, and inadequate health care affect children in the Dominican
Republic.4
        Corruption on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has
also been noted as a factor in the prevalence of trafficking between the two
countries. Reports indicate that Dominican border officials are being bribed in
exchange for allowing traffickers to bring Haitian children into the Dominican
Republic.5


Forms of Trafficking

      At least 50,000 Dominican women are in prostitution abroad, mainly in
Europe.6 Another estimate puts the total number of Dominican women working
1
  Timothy Pratt, “Sex Slavery Racket a Growing Concern in Latin America,” Christian Science Monitor,
11 January 2001.
2
  Laura Langberg, “Summary of Final Report on the Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual
Exploitation in the Americas,” paper presented to the Inter-American Commission of Women Executive
Committee, 1 August 2002, http://www.oas.org/CIM/english/Proy.Traf.SumFinalRep.htm.
3
  David E. Guinn and Elissa Steglich, eds., In Modern Bondage: Sex Trafficking in the Americas—National
and Regional Overview of the Central America and the Caribbean (New York: Transnational Publishers,
2002).
4
  Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Summary Record of the 694th Meeting: Dominican Republic,”
held in Geneva, 24 January 2001, Summary Record CRC/C/SR.694, http://www.unhchr.ch.
5
  “Traffickers Target Haitian Children,” BBC News, 11 August 2002,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2187241.stm.
6
  “Dominican Republic—Prostitution: At Least 50,000 Dominican Women Work as Prostitutes Abroad,”
EFE News Service, 1 November 2002.
abroad in the sex industry as high as 100,000.7 In July 2003, police broke up a
trafficking ring that lured about 300 girls and women from the Dominican
Republic to Austria and forced them into prostitution. Victims between 19 and 30
years of age were forced into prostitution in order to pay off debts to their
traffickers for financing their journeys to Austria and other European countries.8
        Dominican women who were trafficked to Costa Rica had been offered
jobs as waitresses or in Costa Rican hotels, but they were subsequently sexually
exploited in Costa Rican tourist destinations and areas close to port cities. 9
        In February 2002, a woman from the Dominican Republic was jailed for 5
years in Costa Rica for trafficking young Dominican girls to Costa Rica, where
they were sexually exploited. She and her business partner, a Dominican man,
would offer young girls in the Dominican Republic a job as a waitress or in a hotel
in Costa Rica. Most of the victims were between 14 and 18 years of age. The
girls would then be flown from Santo Domingo to San José, where they would be
transported to the tourist town of Quepos (on the Pacific coast) and to Siquirres
(on the Atlantic side) where they would be sexually exploited.10
        Haitian girls have been trafficked along the border with the Dominican
Republic, and thousands of Haitian children reportedly have been trafficked into
the Dominican Republic, where they are forced to beg in the streets or perform
manual labor.11
        One study revealed that the majority of Dominican female migrants in
Argentina were 20 to 39 years of age and almost 90 percent had children, most
of whom were left in the Dominican Republic in the care of others. The majority
of women paid US$2,000 for the trip to Argentina, where they were promised
work as domestic helpers for US$500 to US$800 per month. More than 50
percent had been forced into prostitution.12
        The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular sex tourism
destinations in the world, and it is advertised on the Internet as a “single man’s
paradise.”13 The major centers of tourism are Luperón, Sosua, Cabarete, and Río
San Juan.14 The sex industry in the Dominican Republic is thriving, with an
estimated 50,000 women in prostitution in Santo Domingo alone who provide a
stream of income to brothel owners, corrupt police and other officials, taxi drivers,
and hotel guards. At least 25,000 of the women in prostitution throughout the
Dominican Republic are reportedly underage, with the total number of women in


7
  “Dominican Republic Investigates Alleged Prostitution Ring Linking Caribbean and Europe,” Associated
Press, 7 July 2003.
8
  “Police Break up Austrian Human Trafficking Gang, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 7 July 2003.
9
  “Trafficker of Girls from Dominican Republic to Costa Rica Jailed,” Agence France Presse, 12 December
2001.
10
   “Traffickers of Girls from Dominican Republic to Costa Rica Jailed,” Casa Alianza, 25 February 2002.
11
   “Haiti: Traffickers Target Haitian Children,” BBC News, 11 August 2002.
12
   “Argentina—Study on Trafficking from the Dominican Republic,” IOM Press Briefing Notes, 10
October 2003.
13
   Julia Scheeres, “The Web, Where ‘Pimps’ Roam Free,” Wired News, 7 July 2001.
14
   End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 20 March
2004, http://www.ecpat.net.
prostitution in the country estimated by some to be 100,000.15 It is common to
see men from developed countries accompanied by Dominican girls.16

Government Responses
       In August 2003, the Dominican Republic adopted an antitrafficking law:
Law No. 137-03 regarding illegal trafficking of migrants and trade in persons. The
Dominican Republic model of antitrafficking legislation is unique in that it is the
only such law that addresses both smuggling of aliens and trafficking of
persons.17
       Under this law, punishment for the crime of trafficking18 is imprisonment
from 15 to 20 years.19 Punishment is enhanced by 5 more years under certain
aggravated circumstances, such as trafficking in children.20 In addition, the 5-
year enhanced penalty applies when the victim suffers physical or mental injury
as the result of trafficking.21 The law increases punishment for 5 more years in
cases where the victim of trafficking suffers from psychological disability or
mental illness, and the increased penalty also applies when a victim of trafficking
suffers serious harm and when a trafficker takes advantage of a vulnerable
victim.22
       Law No. 137-03 draws distinctions with respect to persons involved in the
act of trafficking.23 Under the law, committing the crime of trafficking as an
organized group is an aggravated circumstance, and punishment increases by 5
years.24 Similarly, if a perpetrator of a crime is a public person, punishment is
enhanced for 5 more years.25
       In addition, the law provides for criminal liability of the organizations and
corporations that are involved in trafficking of persons. Punishment for legal



15
   “Dominican Republic—Prostitution: At Least 50,000 Dominican Women Work as Prostitutes Abroad,”
EFE News Service, 1 November 2002.
16
   ECPAT International Online Database, 20 March 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.
17
   Mohamed Y. Mattar, “The Birth of a New Anti-trafficking Legislation: The Dominican Republic’s Law
Number 137-03 Regarding Illegal Trafficking of Migrants and Trade in Persons,” paper presented at the
Conference on New Steps in Path-Breaking Strategies in the Global Fight against Sex Trafficking, Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic, 8–9 December 2003,
http://www.protectionproject.org/commentary/vz2.htm.
18
   According to the law, the crime of trafficking in persons includes other forms of trafficking, such as
trafficking for pornography, trafficking for illegal adoption, trafficking for forced marriages, and trafficking
for organs.
19
   Article 3.
20
   Articles 7(c) and 7(e).
21
   Article 7(a).
22
   Article 7(e).
23
   Mohamed Y. Mattar, “The Birth of a New Anti-trafficking Legislation: The Dominican Republic’s Law
Number 137-03 Regarding Illegal Trafficking of Migrants and Trade in Persons,” paper presented at the
Conference on New Steps in Path-Breaking Strategies in the Global Fight against Sex Trafficking, Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic, 8–9 December 2003,
http://www.protectionproject.org/commentary/vz2.htm.
24
   Article 7(c).
25
   Article 7.
persons includes fines, revocation of the business’s license, closure of the
business, and prohibition of performance of any activities by the legal person.26
        Law No. 137-03 implements the doctrine of exemption of criminal liability.
It excludes a victim of trafficking from prosecution for crimes he or she may have
committed while being trafficked. Such crimes could include illegal entry,
prostitution, illegal presence, and unauthorized work. However, the law
conditions application of this exemption on the victim’s collaboration with
authorities or identification of the person responsible for the trafficking. 27
        The Criminal Code prohibits procurement for the purpose of prostitution—
that is, assisting or harboring others for the purpose of prostitution or recruiting
for sexual exploitation. The code also prohibits receiving benefits from
prostitution, keeping or hiring a person for the purpose of prostitution, and acting
as an intermediary between persons engaged in prostitution. Using threats or
other means to interfere with any efforts by qualified institutions to assist
prostitutes is also prohibited. These offenses are punishable by a fine and
imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years.28
        Under legislation enacted in 1998 (Law No. 329-98) on regulating
donation, extraction, conservation, and interchange for transplant of organs and
human tissues, the penalty for trafficking in human organs is imprisonment from
5 to 15 years.29 However, Law No. 137-03 increases the punishment for the
crime of trafficking to imprisonment from 15 to 20 years.30
        Law No. 137-03 encourages exchange of information between agencies of
the government and cooperation between government institutions and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).31 In addition, Law No. 137-03
establishes a task force consisting of representatives from the Ministry of
Women’s Issues; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Office of the Attorney
General through the Department for Combating Trafficking in Women, Young
Boys and Girls, and Teenagers; the Department of Immigration; and the
Interdepartmental Committee for Protecting Migrant Women.32
        The constitution provides for freedom of work.33 Additionally, the Labor
Code provides for elimination of forced or compulsory work by stating that “any
individual is free to devote himself or herself to any occupation, craft, industry, or
trade allowed by law” and that “no one may prevent others from working or force
them to work against their will.”34 The Labor Code, as well as the Code for the
Protection of Children and Adolescents, sets the minimum age for employment at
14 years.35


26
   Article 4.
27
   Article 8.
28
   Article 334.
29
   Article 23.
30
   Article 3.
31
   Article 12.
32
   Article 15.
33
   Article 8.11.
34
   Principle II.
35
   Labor Code, section 245; Code for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, section 40.
        The government of the Dominican Republic in cooperation with the NGO
sector created the Inter-Institutional Committee for Protection of Migrant Women
(CIPROM). CIPROM produced important public policies against trafficking and
implemented victim assistance programs and training courses for foreign service
officials.36

Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

        Niños Caminantes (Walking Children) is an NGO based in Boca Chica.
The Dominican government has provided technical and financial assistance to
Niños Caminantes for the implementation of projects to prevent commercial
sexual exploitation of children working in beach resort areas.37
        The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been implementing
countertrafficking programs in the Dominican Republic since 2001. These
programs aim at informing and increasing awareness among potential victims,
public institutions, and civil society. IOM also provides training to officials and
NGO staff. IOM and the Argentina Commission for Refugees and Migrants
(CAREF), an NGO specializing in assisting immigrant groups, produced a study
titled Migration, Prostitution, and Trafficking in Women to Argentina in 2003.38
        MAIS (Movimiento para el Autodesarrollo Internacional de la Solidaridad
de Puerto Plata) works with at-risk youth. It works to prevent abuse and
mistreatment of children, including child prostitution. MAIS also works with
regional and national institutions to raise awareness about sexual exploitation of
children and legislation that protects children.39

Multilateral Initiatives

      The Eighth Meeting of the Regional Conference on Migration took place in
Cancún, Mexico, on 28 and 29 May 2003. Made up of vice ministers of Belize,
Canada, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States, the conference
focused on, among other migratory issues, intensifying cooperation to combat
smuggling and trafficking of persons.40




36
   Laura Langberg, “Summary of Final Report on the Trafficking of Women and Children for Sexual
Exploitation in the Americas,” paper presented to the Inter-American Commission of Women Executive
Committee, 1 August 2002, http://www.oas.org/CIM/english/Proy.Traf.SumFinalRep.htm.
37
   Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Summary Record of the 694th Meeting: Dominican Republic,”
held in Geneva, 24 January 2001, Summary Record CRC/C/SR.694, http://www.unhchr.ch.
38
   “Argentina—Study on Trafficking from the Dominican Republic,” IOM Press Briefing Notes, 10
October 2003.
39
   ECPAT International Online Database, August 2004, http://www.ecpat.net.
40
   “Declaration,” Regional Conference on Migration (Puebla Process) VII Meeting, Cancún, Quintana Roo,
Mexico, 29–30 May 2003.