A Review of Recent OAS Research on Human Trafficking in the Latin American and Caribbean Region

Abstract

No review of research on human trafficking worldwide would be complete without an examination of the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the past few years the Latin American and Caribbean regions have witnessed increased activities by the US Government international organizations and civil society alerting governments and migrants on the continually evolving nature of human trafficking both domestically and across international boundaries. Effective policy responses to the scourge of human trafficking require reliable data based on solid empirical research. The clandestine nature of this criminal activity makes it only possible to rely on estimates primarily from the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community. As in most parts of the world before the year 2000 the problem had been overlooked and understudied in Latin America and the Caribbean. In an effort to ameliorate this problem and provide governments information that more fully addressed the scope and nature of the problem the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) and the Inter- American Children’s Institute (IACI) both of the Organization of American States (OAS) collaborated with the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) of DePaul University to study human trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. (excerpt)