The Patricia Bibes article “The Status of Human Trafficking in Latin America”, examines the organized crime of human trafficking in Latin America. The fastest growing and profitable organized crime in the world right now, is human trafficking. This crime has grown over the past ten years according to Dona Hughes, director of Women Studies Program at Rhode Island University. Human trafficking is estimated at bringing in over $7 billion a year, and the third most profitable organized crime. The countries with the most reported victims of this crime are in Eastern Europe and Asia. Due to economic and political issues in South America, it is estimated that this organize crime will grow for Latin America.
The poor economy has lead to the estimate that around 40 million kids are being prostituted. The areas that have the highest tourism are the areas with the largest numbers of victims. Due to their high tourism, Costa Rica has the biggest problem of child prostitution in the region. The Dominican Republic, Columbia, and Brazil supply the most of the prostitutes to Latin America. The women and children being trafficking to the United States come primarily from Mexico. Most of the culprits come from the United States or European countries as tourists. The business is still huge …show more content…
Bibes believes that need to get together on national policies of these policies. Latin America has many problems with their law enforcement and corruption. Lack of funding towards law enforcement, reduces the chances of the culprits being caught. Corruption happens with law enforcement, hampers investigations, intimidates victims and government employees, and prevents collection of data. Corruption is a huge issue in Latin America. Because corruption is so high, the mass media has a big role in showing the extent of the