Country Report: Bolivia

A Victim's Story

On a sunny day in July 2000, several Bolivian girls were sent to the local open market to run errands for their families. One by one, each girl was approached by an older woman who convinced them to follow the woman across the border. The parents of the girls were talked into letting their daughters go to Argentina, where they were told the old woman would help the girls find jobs. The girls would work as criaditas (domestic maids) and perform housework in exchange for good pay and basic needs. The woman turned out to be the mother of a clandestine brothel owner. The promised jobs were nonexistent, and the girls found themselves forced into sex slavery. A Protection Project Fact-Finding Mission discovered the brothel in 2001, and 16 of the victims were rescued and returned to Bolivia.

Country Background

Bolivia is the second poorest and least transparent economy in South America. Most of its 8.3 million people live in rural areas, lack basic needs, and depend on subsistence farming. Its shaky economy depends on natural resources, such as tin, as well as on both legal and illegal agricultural exports. A recent crackdown on coca farming (that is used to make cocaine), Bolivia's most lucrative source of income, has led to increased poverty and social unrest throughout the country. The Bolivian government is currently engaging in trade negotiations and hopes to attract foreign direct investment to improve economic conditions and aid development projects.

Causes of Slavery

Bolivia has a legacy of slavery, originating with the Spaniards exploiting Inca natives. Slavery in mines was typical during Spanish Colonial rule. Today, the mining industry continues to be a site of exploited labor. Human rights abuses continue to be ignored in Bolivia, even though a Labor Code and other laws exist to protect individuals against forced labor and debt bondage. Human rights abuses persist due to inefficiency in all branches of government. Security and police forces, as well as militant cocaleros (coca growers), are partially to blame for these abuses. This is because traffickers usually provide incentives for these officials, in the form of bribes, in order to continue undisturbed. Desperate economic conditions cause women to look for work beyond their borders, and families pressure them into leaving the country to look for work opportunities. These women are vulnerable to fraudulent promises in the form of job offers by slave smugglers at the border.

The Process of Enslavement

Minors become victims of sex slavery and forced labor when invited into city centers under false pretense of job offers by slave traffickers. Young Bolivians are coerced into forced labor and are usually sent to work in Brazilian and Argentine textile factories. Some Bolivians are brought into Chile, where they are forced to work without pay in the agricultural industry. Homeless and abandoned children are lured into sex slavery in Bolivia, especially in urban areas and in the Chapare region.

Indigenous minority groups with the least access to information, and who receive the least government protection, are especially vulnerable to exploitation. The practice of criaditas still persists among indigenous groups in parts of the country. Criaditas are indigenous children, between the ages of 10 and 12, who are forced to work in a form of indentured servitude. Criaditas are sold by their parents into middle and upper class families for household work. In exchange, the children are supposed to receive basic necessities for survival, but this exchange is not always guaranteed. The children are separated from the rest of the world once they enter into these homes, and this isolation facilitates the conditions for slavery.

Response on the Ground

Local NGOs, such as Fundacion La Paz and Q'Haruru, have made efforts to put an end to the exploitation of Bolivian minors. The Inter-Institutional Commission for the Progressive Elimination of Child Labor released a 10-year plan to end child labor. Positive results are yet to be seen. The Code for Boys, Girls, and Adolescents works to protect children against violence and exploitation, but limited resources and lack of government support hinder full implementation of laws.

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