U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo presented the Trafficking in Persons Report 2018, which gives information on which countries are making improvements in tackling human trafficking, Costa Rica is still placed in Tier 2, “Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards”.

The report highlights that even though the Government of Costa Rica “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so”.

“The government demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating, prosecuting, and convicting more traffickers; addressing complicity by arresting a police officer for allegedly assisting a criminal trafficking network; identifying more trafficking victims than in the previous year; and approving a new protocol to improve identification of child trafficking victims. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Distribution of government-funded resources to address trafficking remained insufficient, particularly in the area of victim protection and assistance, which remained uneven for male victims. Civil society organizations reported referral mechanisms were not always implemented in an effective or timely manner. Authorities did not convict any officials complicit in human trafficking or trafficking-related offenses.”

Costa Rica is, according to the report, “a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor”, and it continues, “Costa Rican women and children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country, with those living in the north and central Pacific coastal zones being particularly vulnerable. Authorities have identified adults using children to transport or sell drugs; some of these children may be trafficking victims. Migrants en route to the United States remained vulnerable to trafficking. LGBTI persons, particularly transgender Costa Ricans, are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Women and girls from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and other Latin American countries have been identified in Costa Rica as victims of sex trafficking and domestic servitude. Child sex tourism is a serious problem, with child sex tourists arriving mostly from the United States and Europe. Men and children from other Central American countries are subjected to forced labor in Costa Rica, particularly in the agriculture and domestic service sectors. Nicaraguan men and women transit Costa Rica in route to Panama, where some are subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking. Indigenous Panamanians are also reportedly vulnerable to forced labor in agriculture in Costa Rica”.

Finally, the report recommends that the country increases the distribution of funds for victim service and provides specialized shelter and services for trafficking victims, including men and LGBTI persons; this along with the obvious necessity to intensify efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses.