Searching for Safety Confronting Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Venezuelan Women and Girls

Over the last year, Refugees International has carried out field research on the plight of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in four countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, and Curaçao. In all four countries, a few key themes have emerged. First, if Venezuelans have safe and legal pathways to enter host countries, they will be less likely to fall into the hands of traffickers. Second, regularizing the status of Venezuelans already within a host country is vital if victims are to feel safe in reporting incidents of trafficking to the authorities. Third, without the right to work, displaced Venezuelans are at a higher risk of falling prey to exploitative situations to survive financially. If these factors are not addressed, the risk of Venezuelan women and girls being trafficked is heightened. However, the full nature and scope of human trafficking in the context of the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis remains elusive. Information is hard to come by and the coordination of measures to prevent or mitigate human trafficking across host countries remains ad hoc at best. The result is a higher degree of vulnerability. International organizations and host countries alike have a responsibility to coordinate their anti-trafficking efforts, aggregate data, and share lessons learned.