Human Trafficking - Venezuela

Venezuela is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Venezuelan women and girls, including some lured from poor interior regions to urban and tourist centers, are subjected to sex trafficking within the country. NGOs continue to report Venezuelan women are subjected to forced prostitution in Caribbean islands, particularly Aruba, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuelan children are exploited, frequently by their families, in domestic servitude in areas such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare within the country. Venezuelan officials and international organizations have reported identifying sex and labor trafficking victims from South American, Caribbean, Asian, and African countries within Venezuela. Ecuadorian children and women residing in Venezuela are subjected to forced labor in the informal sector and domestic servitude. Reports indicate some of the estimated 30,000 Cuban citizens, particularly doctors, working in Venezuela on government social programs in exchange for the Venezuelan government’s provision of resources to the Cuban government may have experienced treatment indicative of forced labor. Indicators of forced labor reported by some Cubans participating in the program include chronic underpayment of wages, mandatory long hours, and threats of retaliatory actions to the citizens and their families if they leave the program.

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