Nicaragua is principally a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Nicaraguan women and children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country and in other Central American states, Mexico, and the United States. Many trafficking victims are recruited in rural areas or border regions for work in urban centers and tourist locales, where they are subjected to sex or labor trafficking; victims’ family members are often complicit in their exploitation. Nicaraguan women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking along the country’s Caribbean Coast, where the lack of strong law enforcement institutions, a higher crime rate, and presence of drug trafficking increase the vulnerability of the local population. Nicaraguan adults and children are subjected to forced labor in agriculture, construction, mining, the informal sector, and domestic service within the country and in Costa Rica, Panama, the United States, and other countries. Children in artisanal mining and quarrying are vulnerable to forced labor. NGOs report children and persons with disabilities are subjected to forced begging. Male migrants from Central American countries transit Nicaragua en route to Panama in search of employment; some are subjected to labor trafficking in Panama. Nicaragua is a destination for child sex tourists from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe.
The US State Department's 2015 report on human trafficking: Download Human Trafficking N-S 2015
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