U.S. Department of State 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report - Paraguay

Paraguay (Tier 2)

Paraguay is a source country for women and children trafficked to Argentina, Spain, and Brazil for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Poor children are also trafficked internally from rural to urban areas for sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. Trafficking of Paraguayan and Brazilian women and girls, principally for sexual exploitation, remains an ongoing problem in the tri-border area, on the Brazil-Paraguay-Argentina border. Recruiters are typically Paraguayan and use false documents to move victims.

The Government of Paraguay does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government successfully prosecuted several trafficking cases and solicited bilateral assistance and international financial institution funding to train government officials, develop national public awareness campaigns, and establish a shelter to assist victims of trafficking. Projects approved late in the reporting year must now be implemented by the government in collaboration with NGOs. The government should work with NGOs to increase public awareness and improve services for victims. It should also take greater steps to identify and prosecute trafficking crimes.

Prosecution

The government identified new trafficking cases and prosecuted traffickers in 2004, but the lack of data for previous years makes it unclear whether law enforcement efforts have increased or decreased. Paraguay's basic anti-trafficking statute and existing laws, if properly enforced, are adequate to address most forms of trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors. Trafficking-related statutes prescribe sentences to a maximum of ten years' imprisonment. The Attorney General named a prosecutor as the national coordinator of trafficking prosecutions. In December 2004, a court in Villarica issued six-year sentences to two Paraguayans for transnational trafficking of women to Spain. Three traffickers were convicted for internal trafficking in two additional cases, and authorities launched an investigation of three suspects involved in an internal trafficking ring that was engaged in sexually exploiting teenage girls in February 2005. The Attorney General's office was investigating at least four additional cases involving transnational trafficking for sexual exploitation and internal trafficking for sexual and domestic servitude. The government also requested extradition of a trafficking suspect from Spain in early 2005. The government requested donor assistance to develop and implement training programs for law enforcement and judicial officials. There were no specific reports linking government officials to trafficking or of corruption related to trafficking, but corruption remained a general problem overall.

Protection

Many victims did not receive government assistance during the reporting period, in large part due to resource constraints. The Secretariat for Repatriations took the lead in assisting Paraguayan victims of transnational trafficking; efforts focused on identifying nongovernmental sources to repatriate victims. The government assisted two repatriated victims who had been trafficked for sexual exploitation to file complaints against traffickers, but lacked the resources to run or fund shelters for trafficking victims; local police and municipal authorities in Asuncion and Ciudad del Este screened potential victims and referred them to NGOs. There was no explicit policy offering trafficking victims relief from deportation, but Paraguay did not deport any foreign victims.

Prevention

The government did little to prevent trafficking and undertook no public awareness campaigns over the last year. Anti-trafficking efforts included appointing a national coordinator, creating a National Plan, and coordinating development of future programs through a series of interagency round-table discussions. NGOs and some municipal authorities provided information to the public; however, their efforts were insufficient to raise general public awareness, particularly regarding the dangers posed by bogus job offers that lure children and young women into situations of sexual exploitation.