Brazil

Trafficking Routes

Brazil is a major country of origin for trafficking in women and children.

Brazilians are trafficked for sexual exploitation to other countries in South America,
including Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela; to European countries,
including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and the
United Kingdom; and to other countries such as Israel, Japan, and the United States.
Victims are also trafficked, though reportedly to a lesser extent, to Bolivia, Chile, China,
Colombia, French Guiana, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Top destinations include Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Venezuela. Trafficking also exists within Brazil.
A national survey on trafficking in women, children, and teenagers, which was
carried out between 1996 and 2002, reported that there were nearly 250 land, sea, and air
routes along which Brazilians were trafficked out of the country.1 Thirty-two routes from
Brazil to Spain have been noted; most of them go through Portugal.2
Brazil is also a destination country for trafficking in women and children from
Bolivia, Paraguay and other South American countries.

Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Organized crime plays a significant role in trafficking in women into and out of
Brazil. Trafficking gangs offer girls false promises of jobs at restaurants or as domestic
servants.3 It was reported in 2000 that as many as 75,000 women from Brazil had been
smuggled into European countries by way of Portugal in a huge operation involving up to
100 organized crime gangs.4 Police suspect that the yakuza, the Japanese mafia, was
behind a prostitution ring trafficking Brazilian men and women to Japan for purposes of
prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation.5
According to the national survey on trafficking, tourism, fashion, transportation,
and entertainment companies operate as behind-the-scenes trafficking agents. Corruption
within the police force facilitates trafficking and sex tourism, and corrupt authorities have
been associated with document forgery in connection with trafficking.6 Recently, more
than 250 members of the Brazilian elite—politicians, judges, priests, and business
leaders, among others—were put on notice by a national investigation into child sex
rings.7

1
“Brazil to Combat Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation,” Japan Economic Newswire, 2 July 2003.
2
“Brazil Holds International Conference, Announces New Trafficking Office,” Vital Voices Trafficking
Alert, November 2003.
3
“More Than a Million Labor in Sex Trade,” Inter Press Service, 11 March 2003.
4
“Vice Gang Smuggles Brazilian Sex Slaves to Britain,” Scottish Daily Record, 8 October 2000.
5
“Prostitution Ring Luring Brazilian Men, Women to Japan.” Kyodo News Service, 31 July 2001.
6
“Brazil to Combat Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation,” Japan Economic Newswire, 2 July 2003.
See also Louise Rimmer, “Underage Sex, Driven by Poverty, Lures Paedophile Gringos to a Place in the
Sun,” Independent, 22 November 2003.
7
Gibby Zobel, “Brazil’s Child Sex Abusers Feel the Heat,” Al Jazeera, 17 July 2004.
 The free movement of people and goods across the border that runs between
Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay facilitates trafficking. In addition, drug-trafficking
networks have been linked to the sexual exploitation of minors in the region.8

Forms of Trafficking

Brazil is one of the top three countries in the world when it comes to the number
of women working overseas in the sex trade.9 A United Nations (UN) report released in
November 2003 reported that Brazil, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic are the
Latin American countries most affected by trafficking; the report also found that the
trafficking primarily flows toward Europe.10 An estimated 75,000 Brazilian women work
in the sex industry in Europe, although the reliability of this figure is uncertain.11
Along the border between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, young prostituted
children and adolescents can be seen on the streets. It is estimated that close to 3,500
children and adolescents under the age of 18 are victims of commercial sexual
exploitation in the region.12 In Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, a large number of Brazilian
children and adolescents are victims of sexual exploitation.13
Official Brazilian sources acknowledge that child prostitution is a growing
problem within the country.14 According to a January 2005 report, child prostitution rings
operate in 937 municipalities throughout the country. Nearly a third of those rings are
located in poor areas of the northeast.15 Truck drivers have noted an enormous increase in
prostituted children working the highways throughout the country in recent years. 16
Estimates vary widely as to the number of children and women in the commercial sex
industry in Brazil. Numbers range from as low as 100,000 to as high as 2 million.17
Studies in Brazil show that children under the age of 15 comprise 25 to 30 percent
of the labor force in the production of various commodities.18 In June 2004, an
8
“Triple Border Project, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay,” International Labor Organization, Office for the
United Kingdom and Ireland, 19 March 2004.
9
Laura Langberg, “Workshop on Anti-Trafficking Initiatives in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and
the United States Organized by the Japan Program and Region 1 of the Inter-American Development
Bank,” Washington, DC, 18 June 2003, http://www.google.com/search?
hl=en&lr=&q=laura+langberg+workshop.
10
“Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic Hit by Sex Trafficking: UN,” Agence France Presse, 20
November 2003. The Colombian secret police and Interpol estimated that between 45,000 and 55,000
Colombian women are victims of sexual exploitation, but it is not clear whether this figure is overall or
annual.
11
Adela Pellegrino, Migration from Latin America to Europe: Trends and Policy Changes, IOM Migration
Research Series 16 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2004).
12
“Triple Border Project, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay,” International Labor Organization, Office for the
United Kingdom and Ireland, 19 March 2004.
13
“Paraguayan City Is a Sexual Exploitation Spot of Brazilian Girls,” O Estado do Parana, 15 March 2002.
14
“Brazil—Prostitution in Rio de Janeiro Launches Campaign to Combat Child Prostitution,” EFE News
Service, 1 January 2002.
15
“Brazil Publishes ‘Atlas’ of Child Prostitution,” Agence France Presse, 26 January 2005.
16
Benedito Mendonça, “Brazil Too Lenient on Child Sex Predators,” Agência Brasil, 4 May 2004.
17
“Paraguayan City Is a Sexual Exploitation Spot of Brazilian Girls,” O Estado do Parana, 15 March 2002.
See also Louise Rimmer, “Underage Sex, Driven by Poverty, Lures Paedophile Gringos to a Place in the
Sun,” Independent, 22 November 2003.
18
A Future without Child Labor: Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, Report I(B) of the 90th Session of the International Labor
International Labor Organization (ILO) report found that Brazil was the country with the
third largest number of minors working in domestic service, 559,000, surpassed only by
South Africa and Indonesia. Most of the workers are girls, who are kept by their
employers as a sign of social status; very few are able to attend school, few receive any
monetary compensation, and many are sexually exploited.19 Girls working as domestic
servants work more than 40 hours a week, earn less than US$42.50 a week, and do not
attend school.20
Brazil is a major sex tourism destination. Foreigners come from Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands, Spain, Latin America, and North America to engage in sex with
minors.21 For example, in December 2004, Italian police arrested three Italians and one
Brazilian accused of organizing annual trips to Brazil for 1,000 men (ages 20 to 60),
seeking sex with minors. The group operated from travel agencies in Turin and
Palermo.22 Some blame this problem on the tourist image of Brazil, which is associated
with “stereotypical representations of young women, mainly Afro-Brazilians, portrayed
half naked in tourist catalogues to convey the message that exotic sexual adventures can
easily be available to tourists during their stay in the country.”23
Poor Brazilians have been known to sell their organs to international buyers. In
one documented story, a man from the slums of Recife, Brazil, sold his kidney to an
organ-trafficking ring run by an Israeli and a Brazilian, who paid him and arranged for
his transportation to and care in Durban, South Africa, where the kidney was given to an
American recipient. The donor claimed that he did not know the transaction was illegal
until he arrived in South Africa and was told to sign a document stating that the recipient
was his cousin. The two ring leaders have since been jailed on organ-trafficking
charges.24 A legislative commission in Brazil recently concluded that at least 30 Brazilians had sold
their kidneys to an international human organ–trafficking ring for transplants performed in South Africa. One group composed of
Israelis and Brazilians recruited people from Recife to fly to South Africa to deliver their kidneys to Israeli recipients. Payments
25
In December 2003, police in Brazil said they had arrested 11
ranged from US$3,000 to US$10,000.
people connected with a ring trafficking organs from Brazil to South Africa.26

Government Responses

Conference (Geneva: International Labor Organization, 2002).

19
Ricardo Soca, “Brazil: Fighting Hunger His Top Priority, Brazil Leader Says,” Inter Press Service, 15
June 2004.
20
A Future without Child Labor: Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, Report I(B) of the 90th Session of the International Labor
Conference (Geneva: International Labor Organization, 2002).
21
Louise Rimmer, “Underage Sex, Driven by Poverty, Lures Paedophile Gringos to a Place in the Sun,”
Independent, 22 November 2003. See also Carmen Gentile, “Feature: Brazil Cracks Down on Sex Crimes,”
United Press International, 6 February 2003.
22
“Four Arrested in Italy, Accused of Organizing Sex Tours to Brazil,” Agence France Presse, 14
December 2004.
23
“Brazil Must Do More to Tackle Child Prostitution,” Associated Press, 18 February 2004, citing Juan
Miguel Petit, U.N. special envoy on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography.
24
Larry Rother, “Tracking the Sale of a Kidney on a Path of Poverty and Hope,” New York Times, 23 May
2004.
25
Mario Osava, “Poor Sell Organs to Trans-Atlantic Trafficking Ring,” Inter Press Service, 23 February 2004.
26
“Cops Bust Human Kidney Trafficking Ring,” CNN.com, 2 December 2003.
 The Criminal Code of Brazil27 prohibits trafficking in women. The code
specifically prohibits promoting or facilitating the entry of women into the country for
purposes of prostitution. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 to 8 years. The use of
violence, serious threat, or fraud constitutes aggravated circumstances to which a harsher
punishment applies, which may be up to 12 years in prison.28
Inducing a person to satisfy a passion of another person is punishable by
imprisonment for 1 to 3 years. Punishment is increased to imprisonment for 2 to 5 years
in cases involving girls who are between the ages of 14 and 18.29 The code prohibits
procuring someone for the purpose of prostitution or hindering someone from
abandoning prostitution. Punishment is imprisonment for 2 to 5 years.30 Maintaining a
house of prostitution is an offense punishable by imprisonment for 2 to 5 years.31 Earning
money from the prostitution of others is also prohibited; it is punishable by imprisonment
for 1 to 4 years.32 The code also prohibits the corruption of minors. Punishment is
imprisonment for 1 to 4 years.33
The Brazilian constitution prohibits forced labor and sets the minimum age of
employment at 14.34
Under the Statute of the Child and Adolescent,35 it is an offense to “produce or
direct theater or television plays or cinema films, utilizing a child or
adolescent in scenes of explicit or pornographic sex.”36 Punishment is
imprisonment for 1 to 4 years and a fine.37 In addition, punishment of
imprisonment for 1 to 4 years is imposed on anyone who
“photograph[s] or publish[es] scenes of explicit or pornographic sex
involving a child or adolescent.”38
The Statute of the Child and Adolescent provides for protection of children by
imposing restriction on their travel. It states that “without express judicial authorization,
no child may travel outside of the judicial district in which he resides when not
accompanied by parents or guardian.”39
The 1998 anti-money-laundering legislation40 allows the Brazilian authorities to
prosecute individuals who facilitate laundering operations, as well as to seize and freeze
illegal proceeds that are generated from “narcotics trafficking,” “smuggling,” and “other
types of trafficking.” A newly created intelligence unit, the Council for Financial
Activities Control, oversees the implementation of the law. On 24 August 2000, Brazil
ratified the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International
Business Transactions.
27
Law No. 2848.
28
Article 231.
29
Article 227.
30
Article 228.
31
Article 229.
32
Article 230.
33
Articles 218.
34
Article 7(33).
35
Law No. 8069 of 13 July 1990.
36
Article 240.
37
Article 240.
38
Article 241.
39
Section III, article 83.
40
Law No. 9613 of 3 May 1998.
 Law No. 8069-90 of 2000, in particular article 244(a), imposes sanctions
including fines and revocation of the license of a travel agency, hotel, or other agency
facilitating travel for the purpose of sex tourism. The tourist is put in jail for 10 years.41
In 1997, Brazil passed legislation making trade in human organs and tissues
illegal.42
An International Seminar on Trafficking in Women took place in October 2003 in
São Paulo. Government officials from Brazil and the United States and representatives of
the media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) attended the seminar. At the
event, the São Paulo state secretary of justice and citizenship announced the formation of
a new antitrafficking office within the State Secretariat of Justice.43
Brazilian authorities have investigated possible police involvement in a
smuggling ring that sent Brazilian women to Spain and Portugal, where they were forced
into prostitution. The testimony of two women rescued from a Portuguese bordello in
February 2001 led to the arrest of two Rio de Janeiro police officers involved in the ring.
Authorities believed that the operation, which involved mostly minors, was tied to the
mafia on the Iberian Peninsula. An estimated 500 Brazilian women were victims of the
ring.44
In June 2002, Brazilian law enforcement officials arrested an American lawyer
who had specialized in defending people accused of child pornography. The lawyer, who
was found in possession of more than 1,000 photographs and more than 100 videos of
young girls in swimsuits and underwear, was charged with violating Brazil’s laws against
child exploitation.45
In February 2003, Brazil ran a campaign to crack down on child sexual
exploitation during Carnival. The Justice Ministry announced the creation of a single
database of all the Brazilian states’ statistics on sex crimes involving children, and a task
force was scheduled to meet for the first time. Brazilians and foreign tourists alike were
warned about the consequences of soliciting children for sex during Carnival through a
comprehensive advertising campaign at airports, the distribution of pamphlets, and
highways inspections by the federal police.46

In November 2003, a judge in the southern state of Parana was arrested for
pedophilia. In that same month, a Swiss citizen was arrested for producing and
distributing child pornography.47

41
See Mohamed Mattar, “The Role of the Government in Combating Trafficking in Persons—A Global
Human Rights Approach,” Statement to the Congress of the United States, House of Representatives,
Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness, 29 October 2003,
http://www.protectionproject.org/main1.htm.
42
Sheera Frenkel, “Organ-Trafficking Laws in Key Countries,” Christian Science Monitor, 9 June 2004.
43
“Brazil Holds International Conference, Announces New Trafficking Office,” Vital Voices Trafficking
Alert, November 2003.
44
“Brazil Prostitution—Possible Brazilian Police Involvement in International Prostitution Ring,” EFE
News Service, 4 June 2001.
45
Robert Stacy McCain, “Lawyer Charged with Child Exploitation,” Washington Times, 24 July 2002.
46
Carmen Gentile, “Feature: Brazil Cracks Down on Sex Crimes,” United Press International, 6 February
2003.
47
Louise Rimmer, “Underage Sex, Driven by Poverty, Lures Paedophile Gringos to a Place in the Sun,”
Independent, 22 November 2003.
 In July 2004, the Brazilian congress approved a report recommending that more
than 200 people be investigated for crimes against children and adolescents. Those under
suspicion include senior public figures, among them politicians, judges, business leaders,
and priests.48

Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

GAJOP (Gabinete de Assessoria Jurídica às Organizações Populares) is a

Brazilian human rights NGO that administers Provita, a witness protection program. The
House of Life (Casa Vida) in São Paulo works to support street children who are HIV
positive. The House of Shelter and Safe Passage (Casa de Passagem) provides support
services to girls who are living on the streets of Recife. Similarly, the Brazilian Center for
Infants and Youth (Centro Brazileiro da Infância e Juventude) undertakes activities
designed to educate and assist street children in Brazil. The National Movement of Street
Boys and Girls (Movimento Nacional de Meninos e Meninas de Rua) also seeks to assist
street children in Brazil. The Association of Support for Children and Adolescents
(Associação de Apoio á Criança e ao Adolescente) and the Center for the Defense of
Children and Adolescents of Ceará (Centro de Defensa da Criança e do Adolescente do
Ceará) work to defend the rights of the child.49
The Coalition against Trafficking in Women provides services to victims of
sexual exploitation and trafficking in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela. ECPAT
International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for
Sexual Purposes) maintains a presence in Brazil.50 ECPAT Brazil is a coalition of 15
organizations working to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children in that
country. Centro de Defensa da Criança e do Adolescente da Bahia acts as the executive
secretary of ECPAT Brazil.51 The François-Xavier Bagnoud Association focuses on
issues of sexual abuse and violence of children in Latin America, particularly Brazil,
Bolivia, and Uruguay. Vital Voices, which strives to combat trafficking and raise
awareness of the issue, has established global network chapters in Brazil, Haiti, and
Venezuela.52
In 2001, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime launched a project in partnership
with the Ministry of Justice and the National Secretariat of Justice to identify the extent
of trafficking in persons in Brazil and to assist in developing and implementing policies
and strategies to prevent the crime.53

48
Steve Kingstone, “Brazil Acts on Child Prostitution,” BBC News, 9 July 2004.
49
Protection Project, “Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children in the Countries of the
Americas,” report presented at the Hemispheric Conference on International Migration: Human Rights and
Trafficking in Persons in the Americas, Santiago, Chile, 20–22 November 2002.
50
Protection Project, “Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children in the Countries of the
Americas,” report presented at the Hemispheric Conference on International Migration: Human Rights and
Trafficking in Persons in the Americas, Santiago, Chile, 20–22 November 2002.
51
End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking (ECPAT) International Online Database, 15 March
2004, http://www.ecpat.net.
52
Protection Project, “Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children in the Countries of the
Americas,” report presented at the Hemispheric Conference on International Migration: Human Rights and
Trafficking in Persons in the Americas, Santiago, Chile, 20–22 November 2002.
53
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Combating Trafficking in Human Beings,”
FS/BRA/01/R18, 20 August 2004, http://www.unodc.org/brazil/en/project_r_18.html.
Multilateral Initiatives

In May 2003, the Specialized Women’s Conference of MERCOSUR (Southern

Common Market, or Mercado Común del Sur) was held in Asunción, Paraguay.
Representatives from all four member states (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay)
and associate countries (Bolivia and Chile) attended the conference, which for the first
time included trafficking in persons on its agenda. The delegates made a commitment to
create a multidisciplinary working group on trafficking to coordinate trafficking
prevention actions, awareness campaigns, and the provision of services to trafficking
victims.54
The Fourth South American Conference on Migration took place in Montevideo,
Uruguay, on 6–7 November 2003. Participating countries were Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Also present
as observers were delegates from Canada, Spain, and the United States and from
organizations such as the ILO; the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization,
and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Representatives from the Catholic Church,
universities, and NGOs were also invited.55
In March 2004, MERCOSUR launched its first campaign to raise awareness of
child labor.56 Officials from MERCOSUR countries attended the fifth migration meeting
in Santiago, Chile, in May 2004. They signed a document to coordinate their fight against
illegal immigration, vowing to coordinate police and judicial measures to fight illegal
immigration, trafficking in people, and other forms of cross-border crime.57
In June 2004, it was announced that Brazil was one of eight countries to receive
US$50 million from the US government to help fight trafficking in persons. The other
recipients were Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Sierra Leone, and
Tanzania.58

54
MERCOSUR, “Report IX: Specialized Women’s Conference,” summarizing the conference held in
Asunción, Paraguay, 22 –23 May 2003.
55
International Organization for Migration, “Final Report from the Fourth South American Conference on
Migration,” 18 March 2004, http://www.iom.int.
56
“Mercosur Launches Joint Campaign against Child Labor,” Xinhua General News Service, 13 March
2004.
57
“Latin American Countries to Cooperate in Combating Illegal Immigration,” Xinhua General News
Service, 18 May 2004.
58
“Bush Combats Human Trafficking with 50 Million Dollars,” Agence France Presse, 16 July 2004.