Argentina Sex
Cuba's Foreign Debt
In Cuba’s stagnant economy there is one growth sector that is expanding: the “sex-tourism” industry. The sex tourism industry in Cuba is anything but hidden. Any casual stroll along the Malecon, central Havana and around the major tourist hotels will show that the sex business in Cuba is “big business.” A 2002 Johns Hopkins University Study reported, “Canadian and American tourists have contributed to a sharp increase in child prostitution and in the exploitation of women in Cuba.” Despite the regime’s lip service to the goal of abolishing prostitution, the growing economic desperation during the Castro regime has fueled the sex tourism industry. ... [Read More]
International Religious Freedom Report 2002: Argentina
The Government changed at the end of 2001, and the new officials at the Secretariat of Worship have discontinued the previous Government’s efforts related to promoting legal reforms and religious pluralism. However, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI), an agency of the Ministry of Interior, continues to promote social and cultural pluralism and to combat discriminatory attitudes (see Section III). INADI, which includes on its board representatives from the major religious faiths, investigates violations of a 1988 law that prohibits discrimination based on "race, religion, nationality, ideology, political opinion, sex, economic position, social class, or physical characteristics," and conducts educational programs to promote social and cultural pluralism and combat discriminatory attitudes. INADI has suffered from lack of funding and institutional instability; however, it has continued to investigate discrimination complaints, support victims, a ... [Read More]
Argentina
In April an AI report expressed concern over reports that police targeted, tortured, and harassed gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. The report included information regarding the February death in police custody of a transvestite whose body showed signs of torture (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c). AI noted that police bylaws and provincial codes of misdemeanors allow police to detain or sanction members of sexual minorities for actions that do not constitute a criminal offence. The Association Against Homosexual Discrimination filed a complaint to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Cordoba regarding such treatment. ... [Read More]
Argentina
CONAETI worked with unions and other groups to train rural child labor monitors, and with provincial authorities in the tri-border area to undertake activities to address child sexual exploitation. The program director in Puerto Iguazu had received approximately 60 reports of child sex exploitation and, at year's end, was working with 15 minor girls and their families to provide counseling and to get the girls back into school. ... Sexual harassment occurred, but few complaints were lodged, likely due to a lack of information on existing legal protections. No federal law expressly prohibits sexual harassment. The city of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Jujuy, and Tucuman have anti-harassment legislation. ... [Read More]
Argentina
Section 5. Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Disability, Language, or Social StatusThe Constitution and law provide for equal treatment for all citizens, and the law provides for prison terms of up to 3 years for discrimination based on race, nationality, ideology, political opinion, sex, economic position, social class, or physical characteristics. INADI is mandated to identify and combat all forms of intolerance in the country. INADI investigates violations of the antidiscrimination law and carries out research and educational programs to promote social and cultural pluralism and combat discriminatory attitudes. After several years of institutional difficulties, the law establishing INADI was amended to provide INADI with greater independence and a budget of its own. A 2000 Amnesty International (AI) report expressed concern over reports that police targeted, tortured, and ... [Read More]
Argentina
A number of reports of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents appeared during the period covered by this report. The DAIA Center for Social Studies publishes an annual study on Anti-Semitism in Argentina. The Center found a total of 177 anti-Semitic incidents in 2003, a figure which is similar to previous years. The report also highlights discrimination against other groups, including members of the Islamic, Rom, Bolivian, Korean, and indigenous communities, disabled persons, and those of a minority sexual orientation. The DAIA report notes that anti-Semitic incidents made up only 7 percent of the complaints received by INADI in 2003, with discrimination against ethnic or migrant groups accounting for 30 percent and against the disabled for 16 percent. Among the anti-Semitic incidents noted were vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Santa Fe (September 2003) and Posadas, in Misiones Province (November 2003), numerous anti-Semitic remarks, email threats to Jewish institutions, ... [Read More]
IV. Country Narratives: Western Hemisphere
The Costa Rican Government recognizes that trafficking is a serious problem. Its national plan on commercial sexual exploitation was updated in 2003, but more aggressive government action is needed. Limited by resources, current government prevention measures are scattered and consist mainly of occasional public statements, radio programming, and social programs that target vulnerable groups. Borders remain porous and are a subject of continuing concern. CUBA (TIER 3) Cuba is a country of internal trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Child sexual victims are generally teenage girls aged 14 to 17 who are abused in prostitution. The Cuban Government does not condone underage prostitution, but does not publicly address the problem, which largely takes place in the context of tourism that earns ha ... [Read More]
Argentina
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. The Constitution states that the Federal Government "sustains the apostolic Roman Catholic faith" and provides it some privileges not available to other religions. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. [Read More]
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Chile is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are Chilean minors trafficked internally for sexual exploitation. According to a 2003 study conducted by the Chilean National Department of Children’s Affairs (SENAME), at least 3,700 children were victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Traffickers are known to contact victims and their families directly or through advertisements offering jobs as domestic help, models, or product promoters. Chileans have been trafficked to Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, the United States, Europe, and Asia for sexual exploitation. Foreign victims are brought to Chile for sexual exploitation or involuntary domestic servitude from Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia, though authorities find it difficult to distinguish trafficking victims from economic migrants. [Read More]
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