Human Trafficking in Peru: Stakeholder Perceptions

Abstract

Peru has been found to be a country of destination, origin, and transit of men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Peruvian news highlights growing trends in labor and sex trafficking, but it is widely recognized that there is a paucity of rigorous data on the subject.

This study interviewed stakeholders involved in prevention, intervention, and support of victims of human trafficking in Peru. The research team surveyed thirty human trafficking organizations throughout Peru. Questions included where victims come from, gender, age, how they are trafficked, who trafficks them, where they are trafficked to, how traffickers maintain control, whether they were trafficked for the purposes of sex or labor, duration of trafficking, and how they were able to exit their exploitation. Additionally, each organization was asked from their vantage point, what they would do to end human trafficking in Peru.

The findings from this research add substantially to the knowledge of the clandestine world of human trafficking. This research is one of the first studies in Peru that gives insight into both the extent of the problem of human trafficking and real solutions of how it can be combatted.