Trafficking in Persons Report - 2008
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Tier 2 Watch List)
The Dominican
Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women,
and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation and forced labor. A large number of Dominican women are
trafficked into prostitution and sexual exploitation in Western Europe,
Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti, and other
Caribbean destinations. A significant number of women, boys, and girls
are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation and domestic
servitude. In some cases, poor parents push children into prostitution
to increase the family’s income. Sex tourism and child sex tourism are
problems, particularly in coastal resort areas. Sex tourists, including
child predators, typically arrive from Western Europe (i.e., Spain,
Italy, and Germany), though some Canadian and U.S. citizens may be
offenders as well. Some Haitian nationals who migrate voluntary to the
Dominican Republic are subsequently subjected to forced labor in the
service, construction, and agricultural sectors; in some cases, the
irregular status of these migrants, which places them at risk for
deportation, leaves them vulnerable to trafficking by unscrupulous
employers. Many of these victims live in bateyes—which can resemble
shantytowns—or other squalid living conditions. Some Haitian children,
known as restaveks, are reportedly trafficked into conditions of
domestic servitude. The Government of the Dominican Republic does not
fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The
Dominican Republic is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second
consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts
to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of providing
increased assistance to victims and undertaking vigorous actions to
counter official complicity with trafficking activity.
Recommendations for the
Dominican Republic:
Increase efforts to prosecute and punish
trafficking offenders, especially public officials complicit with human
trafficking activity; increase investigations into potential labor
trafficking activity; increase victim assistance and shelter services;
provide greater legal protections for foreign and undocumented
trafficking victims; increase efforts to identify and care for Haitian
trafficking victims; increase prevention and demand-reduction efforts;
and increase anti-trafficking training for government and judicial
officials.
Prosecution
The Government of the Dominican Republic
increased law enforcement efforts against trafficking offenders, but did
not adequately investigate and prosecute public officials who may be
complicit with trafficking activity. The Dominican Republic prohibits
all forms of trafficking through its comprehensive anti-trafficking law,
Law 137-03, which prescribes penalties of up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Such penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other grave offenses, such as rape. During the reporting
period, the government opened 25 sex trafficking investigations, most
involving child victims; this represents improved efforts over last
year. One pending investigation involves allegations against a German
national for trafficking 12 Haitian women into the Dominican Republic
for exploitation through internet-based pornography. The German national
is currently imprisoned, another foreigner involved in the scheme was
deported, and a third dual Dominican-Israeli citizen was released.
Seven additional trafficking cases were submitted for formal
prosecution, and five trials are ongoing. No convictions or sentences
were secured during the reporting period, and no criminal investigations
of public officials have been initiated, despite reported complicity
among many lower-level police, border, and military officials with
trafficking activity. In early 2007, press reports alleged that
high-level consular and immigration officials were directly involved
with the smuggling of Chinese nationals, some of them trafficking
victims, to the Dominican Republic. While prosecutors conducted
informal interviews to investigate these allegations, they reported
difficulty in gaining access to additional information which other
government agencies may possess; an in-depth and formal probe, including
the use of Chinese interpreters to interview alleged victims, has not
been conducted. During the reporting period, the government cooperated
on international cases involving the trafficking of Dominican women to
Argentina, Switzerland, and Turkey. Expanded anti-trafficking training
for public officials, particularly relating to distinctions between
alien smuggling and human trafficking offenses, would assist the
government’s law enforcement efforts.
Protection
The
government’s efforts to protect trafficking victims remained inadequate
over the year, and it continued to rely heavily on NGOs and
international organizations to provide the bulk of shelter and
protection services. While the government maintains shelters and
programs for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, specialized
assistance for trafficking victims is not available. Moreover,
government services are generally not accessible to victims who are
undocumented foreign migrants. The government made no concerted effort
to identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations,
although it trained consular officials posted abroad on recognizing and
assisting Dominican nationals trafficked overseas. Victims are not
typically jailed or penalized for crimes committed as a direct result of
being trafficked. However, there were reports that some prostituted
children were briefly detained during police sweeps, and may not be
recognized as trafficking victims by police and community members.
Dominican authorities generally encourage victims to assist with the
investigation and prosecution of their traffickers, though some victims
of Haitian descent have been deported prior to trial. In some cases,
undocumented victims were deported after providing witness statements,
and were thus unavailable to provide live testimony at the trials of
their traffickers. However, last year the government instituted a new
mechanism for referring foreign trafficking victims to IOM for
repatriation instead of detaining and deporting victims for immigration
violations; these victims may return to the Dominican Republic to assist
with prosecution efforts. Many victims of sex trafficking reported being
reluctant to assist in the prosecution of traffickers out of shame and
embarrassment. Providing victims with access to psychological
counseling, in addition to increased NGO or government support during
court proceedings, should assist the government’s prosecution efforts.
The government does not provide legal alternatives to the removal of
foreign victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution.
Greater efforts to assure protection to Haitians and undocumented
persons of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic would increase the
government’s ability to assist trafficking victims.
Prevention
The government increased prevention efforts by widely publicizing an
anti-trafficking hotline sponsored by the Attorney General’s Office and
the Ricky Martin Foundation. Senior officials such as the First Lady
publicly condemned human trafficking during the reporting period. The
government formalized an interagency anti-trafficking working group with
the goal of developing a national strategy to combat trafficking and
improving victim protection. The government continued a prevention
campaign against child sex tourism at ports of entry, as well as
numerous youth awareness sessions at schools across the country. The
government also took measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts
with children through criminal prosecutions; during the reporting year,
there were two trials involving Spanish and German tourists engaged in
the commercial sexual exploitation of children. |
