Impact of Urbanization in Nicaragua

           Throughout many parts of Latin America the increase of urbanization has caused a multitude of issues. In Nicaragua, urbanization has had a direct impact on the increase of child labor and human trafficking. This crime is commonly seen in the poorest of countries like Nicaragua because of their lack of regulations and resources. Human trafficking is most commonly linked to the large amount of poverty associated with urbanization, a strong presence of drug trafficking, and the little involvement from the government.

            Poverty plagues many countries in Latin America and is a major contributor to the issues that impact the country. Presently, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America behind Haiti, which has strongly contributed to their problems. This extreme poverty has been the biggest contributor to the increase in child labor and human trafficking.Being such a poor country they have limited access to their basic resources and jobs to accommodate the people. As a result of the limited amount of resources in rural areas, many people are making the shift to urban areas. They are searching for possible jobs and access to their basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter. The increase of people in urban areas has also made the country more susceptible to crime because there are so little jobs and it has become harder for the government to regulate and police in a more populated urban area. The country is seeing a higher rate of drug and human trafficking throughout the cities of Nicaragua and into surrounding countries (United States Department of Labor, 2014).

          Many of the victims of human trafficking are women and young children. In many cases they are promised work in urban areas and then pressured into working against their will.  Children are targeted mainly because of their vulnerability and they are more willing to work in order to help provide for their families. The United States Department of Labor reports that near twenty percent of the children in Nicaragua lack identification like birth certificates, which makes them more vulnerable to predators (United States Department of Labor, 2014). In Nicaragua the presence of child labor is considerably large because they get paid for less for their work and are very meticulous workers. Since the children’s presence in society has increased, it has also exposed them to the issues of drug and human trafficking. Most of the children are forced at young ages into the work field to take on the very tedious jobs in agriculture, construction, and some are sexually exploited. Their lack of education has also been a huge determinant in them going into the workforce earlier than most. Presently in Nicaragua there are no regulations set in place by the government about the education requirements for children or laws about the use of child labor. Most children don’t have access to their basic supplies needed for school and they are practically thrown into the workforce at a very young age, which prevents them from getting an education to better support themselves (United States Department of Labor, 2014).

         Women are also likely targets of human trafficking and that is because of the Machismo viewpoint throughout many parts of Latin America. With a Machismo viewpoint, men are viewed as superiors in the society and women are viewed as objects for sex. This point of view is very damaging to the society because it reinforces the idea that men are more empowered than women. Nicaragua as well as many places in Latin America allows sex work to be considered a lawful job, however the purchase of sex it is illegal.  That is making it difficult to determine what is legal and what isn’t. Many are questioning if by allowing the exchange for sex as a way of income is only contributing to human trafficking (Laffin-Rose, Pachico, 2012).    

            Nicaragua’s positioning in Latin America also greatly contributes to the existence of human trafficking. Since both the Caribbean and the Pacific surround the country it makes it hard to regulate and enforce laws on trafficking. The location makes it a lot easier for traffickers to operate under the radar getting victims in and out of the country without easily being caught. Many victims of trafficking are often times transported to surrounding places Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the United States (U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, 2009).

            Urbanization plays a key roll in this issue because most often the victims are targeted in populated places. In Nicaragua the main locations for this crime occur in places that are huge tourism destinations. Managua is the capital for Nicaragua and is a prime area for this crime to operate out of. Another area that is heavily affected by this crime is Granada and it is said to be the area where most tourist visit when they go to Nicaragua. The large masses of people make it difficult to monitor everything that is happening in the cities. In many of the populated places there is also a large presence of drugs and the cartel. With the drug cartels presence in the country it leads too more increased amounts of crime, drugs and it also provides an alternative route for human traffickers.

            In the past couple of years the Nicaraguan government has made significant strides to help eliminate the issue of human trafficking. The government has implemented harsher punishments for those found guilty of acting in this crime. The United Department of Labor released that now if you’re found guilty of trafficking adults the accused can be jailed up to ten years, whereas if found guilty of trafficking young children they can be imprisoned up to twenty years (U.S Department of Labor, 2014). According to the United States Department of State, in 2013 the Nicaraguan government has convicted thirty-five trafficking offenders in the past couple of years. This ranks it as a Tier 2 country, which means that it doesn’t fully follow all of the protocols put in place for human trafficking (U.S. Department of State, 2013). Even though the Nicaraguan government has created new laws in 2015 it is still questioned how harshly they are going to enforce them (Riecken, 2015).

Another step they have taken to help take control of the problem is setting up more officials to help inspect and find the people responsible for trafficking women and young children. However, with such little resources it is still hard for officials to properly get the issue under control since it far exceeds their capabilities (United States Department of Labor, 2014). The government has also not made strides to help assist the survivors of this crime. Many believe that the government is not doing enough and is doing the minimum of what can be done only because of the outside concern and pressure of the many other countries impacted by this crime.  The United States Department of Labor also argues that it’s hard to see if there are accurate measures actually taking place in order to resolve this issue since Nicaragua hasn’t provided any detailed statistical data on human trafficking since 2005 (United States Department of Labor, 2014).

            Many non-governmental organizations have made significant strides to help eliminate the issue along with outside organizations coming in to Nicaragua to help provide resources such as shelter, education, and training. The Covenant House is a prime example of one of these non-governmental organizations that is working to help improve the current problems in the country. They provide housing for many of the young children that are currently on the streets and help house around nearly eighty Nicaraguan children at a time (Covenant House Website, 2016). Most other non-governmental organizations are helping provide housing for many adults and children in the rural areas. By getting them off the streets and providing education, they are helping increase their odds of getting wrapped up into the wrong things that lead to human trafficking. Many of the organizations are also providing opportunities to these individuals to help find jobs within the community, which helps fight the poverty and human trafficking that are affecting many young children and women.

Across many parts of Latin America, including Nicaragua, these issues are still prominent and directly affecting the community. Since there is no definite data that the Nicaraguan government is providing there is no indication that the appropriate measures are being taken to help resolve the issue. In order for this issue to become less common there needs to be more involvement from the government. Currently, the non-governmental organizations are the prime sources that are helping provide for the people and helping to resolve the issue.

Bibliography

 United States Department of Labor. “2014 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor: Nicaragua.”    2014. Web.

      

         Laffin-Rose, Pachico. “In Nicaragua, Can Sex Work be Seperated from Organized Crime?”
         InSightCrime.org. Web. 20 April 2012.  

        Covenant House. “Helping Homeless Kids in Managua”. Covenanthouse.org. Web. 2016.

        United States Department of State. “2013 Trafficking in Persons Report”. 2013. Web.

        United States State Department Trafficking in Persons Report. “Human Trafficking and a            
        Modern Day Slavery”. Gvnet.com. Web. June 2009.