Brazil: 241 Trafficking Routes

BRAZIL - Human trafficking, one of the modern forms of slavery, victimizes close to 2.5 million people around the world. Although there is no national statistic in Brazil, according to educated guesses, the majority of those affected - about 70% - are women and youth of African descent.

The principal victims, women and minors with falsified documents, are normally lured into sexual exploitation or slave labor.

According to data from the Research on the Trafficking of Women, Children, and Youth for the End of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Brazil (Pestraf), 241 human trafficking routes pass through Brazil: 110 routes of internal trafficking (78 inter-state routes and 32 inter-municipal routes) and 131 international trafficking routes.

The inter-state and inter-municipal routes are used for connections with the borders of South America, especially in the trafficking of youth and children, who later leave the region in planes, ships, or small boats.

The country which receives the most Brazilians is Spain - between the two countries there are 32 trafficking routes. The criminal organization "Iberian Connection", which has numerous connections including one with the Russian Mafia, is responsible for the majority of transports to the European country...

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