The Government of Honduras does HONDURAS not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, Honduras made strong efforts to increase law enforcement efforts against traf- ficking offenders and to increase collaboration with NGOs, but trafficking victims, but are limited to coverage in government services for trafficking victims, particu- the nation’s capital. The government also provides larly adults, remained inadequate. medical attention and funding for the repatriation of foreign trafficking victims. Government officials Recommendations for Honduras: Increase shelter have worked with IOM on victim identification, aid and victim services, or fund NGOs with protec- and additional anti-trafficking training would assist tion capacity; commence criminal investigations the government’s efforts, particularly with respect of corrupt officials suspected of trafficking activ- to identifying minors in prostitution as trafficking ity; amend anti-trafficking laws to prohibit labor victims. There were no reports of victims being trafficking; and increase collaboration with other penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct countries to bring foreign tourists who sexually result of being trafficked. Guyanese authorities exploit children in Honduras to justice. encourage victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers, but some victims Prosecution did not testify due to long delays in the judicial The Honduran government took significant steps system and for fear of reprisal from their traffickers. to investigate and punish human trafficking crimes The Guyanese government did not provide legal during the reporting year. Honduras prohibits traf- alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to ficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploi- countries where they face hardship or retribution. tation through Article 149 of its penal code and an anti-trafficking statute enacted in February 2006, Prevention but does not prohibit trafficking for the purpose The government increased prevention efforts during of labor exploitation. Honduran laws against sex the reporting period. Senior government officials trafficking prescribe penalties of up to 13 years’ publicly condemned human trafficking, and the imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and government conducted a widespread educational commensurate with those prescribed for other and awareness-raising campaign, which reached grave crimes such as rape. Last year, the government more than 50 communities and 5,000 citizens significantly increased efforts to investigate traffick- across the country. The government also established ing crimes by opening 74 investigations, initiating an interagency anti-trafficking task force, and 13 prosecutions, and obtaining eight convictions, increased advertising for an anti-trafficking call line with sentences ranging from 5 to 27 years’ impris- to assist potential victims. It did not, however, carry onment. This compares with 24 trafficking-related out any efforts to reduce demand for commercial investigations, 17 prosecutions, eight convictions, sex acts during the reporting period. and four significant prison terms obtained in 2006. The government also dedicated more prosecutors HONDURAS (Tier 2) and police personnel to combat human trafficking activity. Of particular note was a joint effort by the Honduras is principally a source and transit police, NGO Casa Alianza, and the Tegucigalpa country for women, girls, and boys trafficked for mayor’s office to utilize proactive strategies such the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. as raids and stakeouts to catch human traffickers Honduran children are typically trafficked from and remove victims from trafficking situations. rural areas to urban and tourist centers such as However, anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts San Pedro Sula, the North Caribbean coast, and outside the capital and San Pedro Sula were few. the Bay Islands. Honduran women and children The government expanded anti-trafficking train- are trafficked to Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, ing for law enforcement officials in 2007, training and the United States for sexual exploitation. Most thousands of personnel with the assistance of IOM. foreign victims of commercial sexual exploitation Law enforcement authorities regularly work with in Honduras are from neighboring countries; some neighboring countries and the United States on are economic migrants en route to the United States anti-trafficking efforts, as well as investigations of who are victimized by traffickers. Internal child child sex tourism. However, defendants over the age labor and forced child labor for violent criminal of 60 are subject to house arrest in Honduras while gangs are serious concerns. awaiting trial; many of these accused offenders, 135 including American citizens, flee or bribe their way and journalists, reaching more than 3,000 people. out of the country and avoid prosecution. Some The government worked closely with NGOs and acts of complicity with human trafficking have been international organizations on additional TV and reported among lower-level immigration officials radio awareness-raising campaigns. In February 2008, and in other sectors. However, no investigations the National Chamber of Tourism of Honduras and or prosecutions of such corrupt activity have been UNICEF launched a Code of Conduct campaign opened by the government. to encourage its tourism industry to prevent child HONG KONG sex tourism. No other government efforts to reduce Protection demand for commercial sex acts were reported, The Honduran government made limited progress although public awareness of the dangers of human in its efforts to assist trafficking victims during trafficking appeared to be growing. the reporting year. The government operated no dedicated shelters or services for trafficking victims, HONG KONG (Tier 1) although it referred child trafficking victims to NGOs, which could only serve a small percentage The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of those in need. Honduran NGOs shouldered a (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China is a heavy burden to provide victim care, and received destination and transit territory for men and women no direct funding from the government. While the trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual government increased training on referring traffick- exploitation and forced labor. Hong Kong is primar- ing victims for care, NGOs report that referrals in ily a transit point for illegal migrants, some of whom practice are unorganized and uneven. Moreover, are subject to conditions of debt bondage, sexual few resources, public or private, are available for exploitation, and forced labor. To a lesser extent, adult trafficking victims. During the reporting Hong Kong is a destination for women from the period, the government worked closely with IOM Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia who travel to repatriate more than a dozen young Hondurans to Hong Kong voluntarily for legal employment who had been trafficked to neighboring countries in restaurants, bars, and hotels, but upon arrival for sexual exploitation, and Honduran consular are coerced into prostitution under conditions of officials are trained to identify trafficking victims. debt bondage. Some of the women in Hong Kong’s Victims are encouraged to assist in the investiga- commercial sex trade are believed to be trafficking tion and prosecution of their traffickers, and the victims. Although Hong Kong continues efforts to government collaborated with NGOs to identify regulate the thousands of foreign domestic workers victim witnesses. There were no reports of victims from the Philippines and Indonesia currently work- being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a ing in Hong Kong, there appears to be a growing result of their being trafficked. Honduras does not number of Indonesian workers who are subject to provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign exploitation and conditions of involuntary servi- victims to countries where they may face hardship tude. Many Indonesian domestic workers earning or retribution. There is no formal system for proac- the minimum wage are required to repay to their tively identifying trafficking victims among vulner- Indonesian recruitment agency $2,700 within their able populations such as prostituted women or first seven months of employment, amounting to criminal detainees. In collaboration with an NGO, roughly 90 percent of a worker’s monthly salary. law enforcement officials in Tegucigalpa undertook Such high levels of indebtedness assumed as part a number of victim rescue efforts; fifteen minors of the terms of employment can lead to situations were rescued in Tegucigalpa in seven separate cases of debt bondage, when unlawfully exploited by in 2007. recruiters or employers. Additionally, the confisca- tion of passports by some Hong Kong employment agencies restricts the ability of migrant workers to leave their employer in cases of abuse, and places them under further control of their employment agency, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking. The Government of Hong Kong fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to imple- ment strong anti-trafficking measures. The govern- ment trains front-line law enforcement officials to Prevention identify trafficking victims, collect information on The government made solid