Brazil - Facts on Trafficking and Prostitution

Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation

Brazil

Prostitution

The concentration of wealth and bi-polarized economic situation in Brazil results in a situation of marginality which leaves 20 million people indigent and more than 40 million children and adolescents needy or abandoned. This situation throws more children into prostitution every day. ("Use of children for prostitution and a Congressional hearing in the State of Paraiba," NGOAEs/ Interinstitutional Network Against Child Prostitution and Sexual Abuse, 6 April 1998)

In over 30 municipalities especially the larger cities, there is a noteable increase in prostitution among children under the age of 14. ("Use of children for prostitution and a Congressional hearing in the State of Paraiba," NGOAEs/ Interinstitutional Network Against Child Prostitution and Sexual Abuse, 6 April 1998)

In 1998, the economic and environmental crises such as the eight-month drought that has threatened 10 million people with hunger has led children into prostitution for their families’ survival. (Phil Stweart, "Brazil drought spurs child prostitution," Reuters, 23 June 1998)

Case

Ernesto Ramires Vieria in Porto Murtinho on the banks of the River Paraguay owns a typical prostitution establishment. It has 18 rooms, for 42 prostitutes. As many as 250 men visit the establishment each night. The owner claimed that he was proud of the high level of his 'customers' which include well-known football players, business men, actors and singers. During the 15 minutes in which he was giving the interview to the Folha reporter he received three phone calls asking that girl prostitutes be reserved for different clients. ("Child prostitutes used in 'sex tourism' in Pantannal," SEJUP #287, 17 September 1997)

Official Response and Action

Sections of a report that suggested actions against child sexual exploitation and implicated public figures, particularly Deputies and Assembly functionaries were removed from a 1998 Report. The Comissao Parlamentar de Inquerito carried out 17 public hearings, took testimony from government entities, NGOs, church organizations, human rights commissions linked to the problematic of children and adolescents, police officials, judges, functionaries of the state attorney general's office, accused individuals and family members of victims. It established the existence of organized networks within and outside of the state of Paraiba, linking the two major cities of Joao Pessoa and Campina Grande with cities in neighboring states. The Report identified extremely serious cases of sexual exploitation in Joao Pessoa, involving in particular Maria Celestina Ribeiro de Barros and Itapuana Soares Dias—both named previously in a similar Comissao Parlamentar de Inquerito carried out by the Joao Pessoa City Council in 1993. 30 municipalities, especially the larger cities, had significant increases in prostitution among children under the age of 14. (Interinstitutional Network Against Child Prostitution and Sexual Abuse, March 23, 1998, NEWS FROM BRAZIL)

The Brazilian government is spending $1.7 million on rehabilitating an estimated 10,000 children in prostitution in the Amazon. The project is aimed at keeping children off the streets, (Social Security Network, "Brazil spends $1.7 ml on helping child prostitutes", Reuters, 12 June 1998)

In 1997 the government of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul decided to set up commissions in all municipalities to combat the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. ("Child prostitutes used in 'sex tourism' in Pantannal," SEJUP #287, 17 September, 1997)

Prostitution Tourism

Brazil has one of the worst child prostitution problems in the world and a thriving sex tourism industry has developed in more impoverished states like Bahia and Amazonas. (Social Security Network, "Brazil spends $1.7 ml on helping child prostitutes", Reuters, 12 June 1998)

Brazil is one of the favored destinations of paedophile sex tourists from Europe and the United States. ("Global law to punish sex tourists sought by Britain and EU," The Indian Express, 21 November 1997

In Porto Murtinho, a town of 11 thousand, there are six locations of prostitution. In Coruma (pop. 87.8 thousand) 16 prostitution establishments were found. In Campo Grande, (pop. 600 thousand) there are 12 prostitution establishments where over 100 young girls from Sao Paulo, Goias, Parana, Minas Gerais, Paraguay and Chile are prostituted in sex tourism. Tourists buy girls for periods of one or two weeks. This practice also occurs in the municipality of Coxim where tourists staying in fishing campments hire young girls. (Titular Council for Children and Adolescents, "Child prostitutes used in 'sex tourism' in Pantannal," SEJUP #287, 17 September, 1997)

A recent survey identified 65 localities of prostitution in six cities in the Pantanal region. Many of the prostitutes are young girls. Highlighted is the link between fishing and prostitution. (Survey by the Ministry of Justice, UNICEF and the government of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, "Child prostitutes used in 'sex tourism' in Pantannal," SEJUP #287, 17 September, 1997)

Official Response and Action

In 1997, Brazil set up a phone service to report the sexual exploitation of children and sex tourism. 902 calls were receicved, but only 9% were related to sexual exploitation of children and sex tourism. (Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz, Number301, 5 February 1998)

Organized and Institutionalized Sexual Exploitation and Violence

Sterilization of female members of the Pataxo Ha-ha-hae tribe was arranged by Bahia state representative Roland Lavigne during the 1994 general election campaign, charge tribal leaders. No child has been born to the Baheta community, which totals 64 people of the Pataxo Ha-ha-hae tribe, since its 11 women of childbearing age were sterilized in 1994. None of the women was forced to undergo the procedure, but they may have been misinformed about the long-term implications of sterilization. It is common for politicians in the impoverished Northeast to offer free medical treatment in exchange for votes, although the practice is officially illegal. (Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), "Brazil tribe denounces illegal sterlizations," Reuters, 5 September 1998)

66.3% of homicides against women in 1995 and 1996 were due to family violence. 30% of women who denounced family violence in their homes in 1997 returned to the police station the next day to drop the charges. In Sao Paulo 64% of denouncements of physical aggression against children are related to domestic violence (Source: SOS Children). The majority of children who live on the street do so because of family violence (Source: SOS Children). (United Nations Study, "UN proposes pact on family violence," ALC News Service, 24 July 1998)

A ten-year-old Brazilian rape victim, who was impregnated during the rape, may not be able to have an abortion. Her family and pro-choice activists support the abortion, fearing that she can not emotionally or physically carry the pregnancy to term. Catholic religious leaders and anti-abortion activists, who have received a court injunction to keep the abortion from taking place, oppose the abortion. ("Church blocks Brazil abortion for raped 10-yr-old," Reuters, 24 September 1998)

Factbook Table of Contents CATW Homepage

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation
Donna M. Hughes, Laura Joy Sporcic, Nadine Z. Mendelsohn and Vanessa Chirgwin