Brasília - Young women continue to be the main victims of human trafficking. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), between 800 and 900 Brazilian women are illegally transported abroad annually. Although the majority of them are between 18 and 21 years of age, unmarried, with little formal education, around 40% are less than 18 years of age.

According to social assistant, Aldayr Brasil, who works with children and adolescents, most of the time young women are enticed into becoming a victim of human traffic by someone close to them. "These are people they trust, people they know, who live nearby, who convince them that they can make a decent living by going abroad," explains Brasil. They fool their victims with promises of a good job, a nice salary and a better quality of life, she says, but most of them wind up caught in an international prostitution ring.

The enticers are usually men, between the ages of 31 and 45, married, who have some schooling. They are often in businesses where they have contact with potential victims: nightclubs and marriage or tourism agencies. Some of them drive taxis.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Monique Colares
Translator: Allen Bennett
11/30/2004