FIU Digital Commons - Security Research Hub Reports: 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report: Colombia
 

2022 Trafficking in Persons Report: Colombia

Security Theme

Human Security

Keywords

Pandemic, Debt, sex acts, sex trafficking cases, Migrants, Traffickers, sex

Description

As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Colombia, and traffickers exploit victims from Colombia abroad. Traffickers exploit Colombian adults and children in sex trafficking and forced labor in Colombia and Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Traffickers exploit Colombians in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, mainly Dubai. According to a Colombian government agency, in 2019, nearly 55 percent of transnational trafficking cases with a Colombia nexus involved Colombian victims exploited in trafficking in Turkey. Traffickers lured victims with fraudulent employment opportunities later to exploit them in sex trafficking and forced labor. In 2019, 38 percent of victims in domestic trafficking cases were from Bogotá and Antioquia Department, and 44 percent of domestic cases were identified in Bogotá. Government reports released in 2019 indicate that since 2013 roughly 90 percent of victims identified in Colombia were adults. Groups at high risk for trafficking include displaced Venezuelans, LGBTQI+ individuals, Afro-Colombians, members of Indigenous communities, individuals with disabilities, internally displaced persons, and those living in areas where illegal armed groups and criminal organizations are active. An international NGO interviewed 2,216 Venezuelan migrants who arrived in Colombia between 2019 and 2021, of which 907 reported experiencing trafficking or exploitation—324 of those in 2021. Sex trafficking of Colombian women and children occurs within the country and around the world. Colombian women and children are victims of sex trafficking within Colombia in areas with tourism and large extractive industries. Transgender Colombians and Colombian men in commercial sex are vulnerable to sex trafficking within Colombia and Europe. Traffickers exploit Colombian nationals in forced labor, mainly in mining to extract coal, alluvial gold, and emeralds; agriculture in coffee harvesting and palm production; begging in urban areas; and domestic service. Traffickers exploit Colombian children working in the informal sector and street vending in forced labor. Illegal armed groups, particularly in the departments of Choco, Norte de Santander, Córdoba, Nariño, and Cauca, forcibly recruit children, including Venezuelan, Indigenous, and Afro-Colombian youth, to serve as combatants and informants, to harvest illicit crops, and to exploit in sex trafficking. In 2021, JEP officials announced that between 1996 and 2016, 18,677 children were recruited and used by the FARC-EP for the armed conflict, with the majority of cases taking place between 1996 and 2016. Between 2017 and 2019, early alert systems identified 182 municipalities where children were vulnerable to forced recruitment by illegal armed groups. Several illegal armed groups, including ELN, Segunda Marquetalia, FARC-D, Clan del Golfo, are known to operate in areas where vulnerable people may be exploited through human trafficking and other illicit activities. Women, children, and adolescents who separate from the ranks of illegal armed groups are vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers recruit vulnerable women and girls in dire economic circumstances, mostly Colombians and displaced Venezuelans, into “webcam modeling,” a phenomenon that grew due to the pandemic. In some cases, traffickers drugged women and girls using fear and coercion through debt and extortion to force victims to perform live streaming sex acts. Government officials and civil society organizations have expressed concern about the burgeoning webcam industry and its ties to sex trafficking. Displaced Venezuelans, including women, children, transgender individuals, and undocumented migrants, were the most vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor. Traffickers target impoverished women and girls to exploit them in sex trafficking; this vulnerable population represented 80 percent of sex trafficking cases. In 2021, more than 130,000 migrants—mostly Haitians—transited the town of Necoclí intending to cross the Darién gap, many of whom were highly vulnerable to human trafficking. Youth living under poor social and economic conditions are at a high risk of human trafficking. The pandemic led to an economic contraction of 6.8 percent, creating hardships and likely increasing the vulnerability to trafficking of LGBTQI+ individuals, undocumented migrants, and Indigenous communities that relied on the informal sector.

Share

 
COinS
 

2022 Trafficking in Persons Report: Colombia

As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Colombia, and traffickers exploit victims from Colombia abroad. Traffickers exploit Colombian adults and children in sex trafficking and forced labor in Colombia and Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Traffickers exploit Colombians in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, mainly Dubai. According to a Colombian government agency, in 2019, nearly 55 percent of transnational trafficking cases with a Colombia nexus involved Colombian victims exploited in trafficking in Turkey. Traffickers lured victims with fraudulent employment opportunities later to exploit them in sex trafficking and forced labor. In 2019, 38 percent of victims in domestic trafficking cases were from Bogotá and Antioquia Department, and 44 percent of domestic cases were identified in Bogotá. Government reports released in 2019 indicate that since 2013 roughly 90 percent of victims identified in Colombia were adults. Groups at high risk for trafficking include displaced Venezuelans, LGBTQI+ individuals, Afro-Colombians, members of Indigenous communities, individuals with disabilities, internally displaced persons, and those living in areas where illegal armed groups and criminal organizations are active. An international NGO interviewed 2,216 Venezuelan migrants who arrived in Colombia between 2019 and 2021, of which 907 reported experiencing trafficking or exploitation—324 of those in 2021. Sex trafficking of Colombian women and children occurs within the country and around the world. Colombian women and children are victims of sex trafficking within Colombia in areas with tourism and large extractive industries. Transgender Colombians and Colombian men in commercial sex are vulnerable to sex trafficking within Colombia and Europe. Traffickers exploit Colombian nationals in forced labor, mainly in mining to extract coal, alluvial gold, and emeralds; agriculture in coffee harvesting and palm production; begging in urban areas; and domestic service. Traffickers exploit Colombian children working in the informal sector and street vending in forced labor. Illegal armed groups, particularly in the departments of Choco, Norte de Santander, Córdoba, Nariño, and Cauca, forcibly recruit children, including Venezuelan, Indigenous, and Afro-Colombian youth, to serve as combatants and informants, to harvest illicit crops, and to exploit in sex trafficking. In 2021, JEP officials announced that between 1996 and 2016, 18,677 children were recruited and used by the FARC-EP for the armed conflict, with the majority of cases taking place between 1996 and 2016. Between 2017 and 2019, early alert systems identified 182 municipalities where children were vulnerable to forced recruitment by illegal armed groups. Several illegal armed groups, including ELN, Segunda Marquetalia, FARC-D, Clan del Golfo, are known to operate in areas where vulnerable people may be exploited through human trafficking and other illicit activities. Women, children, and adolescents who separate from the ranks of illegal armed groups are vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers recruit vulnerable women and girls in dire economic circumstances, mostly Colombians and displaced Venezuelans, into “webcam modeling,” a phenomenon that grew due to the pandemic. In some cases, traffickers drugged women and girls using fear and coercion through debt and extortion to force victims to perform live streaming sex acts. Government officials and civil society organizations have expressed concern about the burgeoning webcam industry and its ties to sex trafficking. Displaced Venezuelans, including women, children, transgender individuals, and undocumented migrants, were the most vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor. Traffickers target impoverished women and girls to exploit them in sex trafficking; this vulnerable population represented 80 percent of sex trafficking cases. In 2021, more than 130,000 migrants—mostly Haitians—transited the town of Necoclí intending to cross the Darién gap, many of whom were highly vulnerable to human trafficking. Youth living under poor social and economic conditions are at a high risk of human trafficking. The pandemic led to an economic contraction of 6.8 percent, creating hardships and likely increasing the vulnerability to trafficking of LGBTQI+ individuals, undocumented migrants, and Indigenous communities that relied on the informal sector.

 
 
 
BESbswy