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What is trafficking in persons?
A person is a victim of trafficking when they are
recruited or
taken somewhere or
kept somewhere or
offered things (like money, food, or gifts)
and then exploited to benefit someone else.
Traffickers use different tactics to frighten and control their victims and prevent them from seeking help. They also manipulate and deceive their victims.
Sometimes the victim is threatened or harmed.
Sometimes traffickers may use kindness and affection to persuade and deceive the victim.
Traffickers may hurt the victim or threaten to hurt the victim. Sometimes traffickers threaten to hurt the victim’s relatives or friends.
Traffickers may threaten to share personal information about the victim or to show private photos or videos to another person.
Traffickers may offer a job or study opportunity that is not real.
Traffickers may offer a victim’s family money so that the victim will do things they don’t want to do. Traffickers may offer the victim money or housing or food.
Anyone can be a victim of trafficking. Trafficking victims can be any age and come from any country. They can be girls, boys, men or women. In Costa Rica, traffickers exploit their victims of for many different purposes.
Trafficking for sexual exploitation occurs when a person is tricked, manipulated, pressured or forced to have sex or engage in sex-related activities in order for another person to benefit.
It is not necessary for money to be exchanged for sex trafficking to occur. The exchange can be gifts, drugs, alcohol, a place to stay, food or advantages such as status, affection or protection in exchange for sex or any activity of a sexual nature.
Trafficking for sexual exploitation can occur in person or online.
This might be transmitting or sharing sexual photographs or videos or engaging in sexual or sex-related activities via webcam.
Trafficking for labor exploitation occurs when a person is forced to work or when they are tricked so that they accept a job that isn’t what they thought. This form of trafficking can also include children and adolescents who are pressured or forced to sell drugs or do other illict activities.
Sometimes victims of trafficking for labor exploitation are paid for their work. But often they are not paid what they were promised or they are told that they have a debt to the employer that they need to pay off.
In Costa Rica, the legal age for someone to be employed is age 15.
Trafficking for servile or forced marriage occurs when a person is forced into a marriage. Victims of trafficking for forced marriage may be exploited in legal marriages or in illegal marriages.
In Costa Rica, the legal age to be married is age 18.
Trafficking for forced begging occurs when a person is made to beg. This usually occurs on the street or in public areas.
Some victims of trafficking for forced begging are children and adolescents who are forced by their mother or father to beg.
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The development of this website was funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of State. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the developers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.