Human Trafficking and the Dominican Republic: A Victim-Centric Approach

• Author: Janice Joseph, Zelma W. Henriques and Patrice Morris
• Pages: 627-644

627

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Human

Trafficking

and the

Dominican

Republic:

A Victim-Centric

Approach

Janice Joseph1, Zelma W. Henriques

and Patrice Morris

Twenty-Eight

In an era of globalisation, human trafficking

is a worldwide problem affecting every

continent and most countries in the world

and it ranks as one of the most lucrative

forms of trans-national crime. Traffickers

respect neither boundaries nor borders and

move within and across nations. The

trafficking of persons for sexual and labour

exploitation is an international, organised,

criminal phenomenon that has grave

consequences for the safety, welfare and

human rights of its victims (Interpol 2004).

A number of factors have led to its

expansion, such as the easy profits made

from exploitation; growing deprivation and

marginalisation of the poor, discrimination

against women, restrictive migration laws,

a lack of information about the realities and

dangers of trafficking, and insufficient

penalties against traffickers.

Using a victim-centric approach, this

chapter focuses on the victims of human

trafficking in the Dominican Republic and

responses to their victimisation. First, the

chapter presents a brief overview of the

literature on human trafficking. Second, it

examines the nature and extent of the

victimisation in the Dominican Republic and

this is followed by a critical assessment of

the government response to these victims.

Finally, this chapter provides a number of

recommendations.

628

CRIME, DELINQUENCY AND JUSTICE

LITERATURE REVIEW

Definition

Although the trafficking of human beings is a major problem today, there is a

great deal of confusion about precisely what is human trafficking. This confusion

is reflected in the various, sometimes contradictory, definitions and concepts

used in national legislation and international conventions. Because the trafficking

of human beings is a complex phenomenon, it is imperative that a clear definition

be established.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) argues that human

trafficking violates a number of international conventions and in the case of

receiving and transit countries, the phenomenon violates a number of national

laws. It defines trafficking as any illicit transporting of migrants and/or trade in them

for economic personal gain and it occurs when a migrant is illicitly recruited,

kidnapped, sold, and or moved, either within national or across international

borders (International Organisation for Migration 2001). This definition of the

IOM is very restrictive because it places particular emphasis on migrant workers.

It may be true that migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to being exploited

given their circumstances of migration, but migrant workers are not the only

group of individuals who are trafficked throughout the world. This definition is

also not applicable to individuals who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual

exploitation.

The United States Department of State refers to this phenomenon as ‘trafficking

in persons’ and identifies two forms of human trafficking; sex trafficking and

labour trafficking. According to the United States (US), sex trafficking involves

the use of force, fraud, or coercion that causes someone to be exploited for sexual

purposes, and this could include prostitution or pornography. Labour trafficking

includes labour without compensation, which could include forced or bonded

labour (United States Department of State 2003). The US definition acknowledges

the victimisation inherent in human trafficking, but it does not capture the

magnitude of the problem or its trans-national nature.

In recent years, increased attention to the global problem of trafficking in

persons has led to a worldwide push for the development of a working definition

of trafficking that encompasses the full nature and scope of the abuse. In February

2000, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

(UNHCHR), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the IOM submitted

a joint statement to the Ad Hoc Committee recommending the following

definition of trafficking:

recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons... by

improper means, such as force, abduction, fraud or coercion, for an improper