URUGUAY (Tier 2)
Uruguay is principally a source country
for women and children trafficked within the country, particularly
to border and tourist areas, for the purpose of commercial
sexual exploitation. Reports also indicated that some poor
parents turned their children over for forced domestic or
agricultural labor in rural areas.
The Government of Uruguay does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to
do so. While official reports of trafficking are few, the
government has strengthened programs to educate and warn
potential victims. The government should consider updating
national laws to criminalize all forms of trafficking, increase
efforts to train government personnel throughout the country
to identify and investigate potential trafficking situations,
and provide greater assistance to victims.
Prosecution
The Government of Uruguay showed limited progress in its
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the last year.
Uruguay prohibits some forms of trafficking pursuant to
a 2004 anti-trafficking law and a series of older statutes,
which provide a range of penalties from 1 to 12 years in
prison. However, Uruguay's anti-trafficking laws do not
address trafficking of adults; most trafficking-related
crimes fall under commercial sexual exploitation of children,
fraud, or slavery laws. The government made limited progress
in investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases during
the reporting period. Police arrested two individuals in
separate cases of exploiting children for pornography, and
investigated three other cases of trafficking for commercial
sexual exploitation. The government cooperates with neighboring
and European authorities on international trafficking cases.
There is no evidence of official facilitation of human trafficking.
Protection
The Government of Uruguay continued to lack the capacity
to assist all possible trafficking victims during the reporting
year. The government provided some assistance to NGOs working
in the area of trafficking, but the availability of services
remained uneven across the country. The government encourages
but does not force victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers. Victims' rights are
generally respected, and there were no reports of victims
being jailed, deported, or otherwise penalized. Uruguayan
law provides legal alternatives to the removal of foreign
victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution.
Prevention
Government efforts to raise public awareness, particularly
among groups most vulnerable to trafficking, remained steady
during the reporting period. The Ministry of Education continued
to air hard-hitting anti-trafficking commercials on national
television, and maintained its program
of including anti-trafficking segments in its sex education
curriculum. The government relies on NGOs and other funding
sources for additional anti-trafficking prevention efforts.
###
