Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Costa Rica (Ratificación : 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the Costa Rican Federation of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprise (UCCAEP), communicated with the Government’s report. It also notes the joint observations of the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN) and the Costa Rican Workers’ Movement Central (CMTC), received on 7 September 2024. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 3(a) and (b) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Sale and trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation; use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. The Committee notes the following statistics, provided by the Government in its report, on the investigations of the Deputy Prosecutor against trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling into trafficking in persons: (1) in 2022, 23 investigations were conducted into trafficking in persons, including 13 investigations into trafficking for sexual exploitation; (2) in 2023, 90 investigations were conducted into trafficking in persons, including 40 investigations into trafficking for sexual exploitation and 34 investigations into child pornography-related offences; and (3) in 2023, there were nine convictions and two acquittals. The Committee notes that this information is not disaggregated by victims’ age and that therefore, with the exception of the investigations into child pornography, the proportion of these investigations and convictions that concern victims under 18 years is unknown.

The Committee also notes the following information provided on cases registered by the Office of the Public Prosecutor: (1) none of the 229 cases of trafficking in persons in 2020 was related to trafficking in minors; (2) 4 of the 312 trafficking cases in 2021 related to trafficking in minors; (3) 2 of the 180 trafficking cases in 2022 related to trafficking in minors; and (4) between 2020 and 2022, 116 paid sexual acts with minors, 655 cases of dissemination of child pornography and 67 cases of preparation, production or reproduction of child pornography were recorded. Based on the information provided by the Government, the Committee once again notes: (1) the low number of cases recorded relating to trafficking in minors under 18 years, including trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation; and (2) the lack of information on convictions in cases of child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. While noting this information, the Committee requests the Government to make every effort possible to ensure that the corresponding investigations are conducted to enable the identification, arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of child trafficking, and that sufficiently dissuasive penalties are imposed. In this regard, it once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the number and nature of the violations reported, investigations and prosecutions carried out, and the convictions applied relating to the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children under 18 years.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing children from becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour and direct assistance for their removal, rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee notes, from the Government’s report, that: (1) in any cases where a risk of trafficking in persons is suspected, reference must be made to the Institutional Protocol for care of minors who are victims and survivors of the crime of trafficking in persons and minors who are dependants on a victim of trafficking in persons (2020); (2) the National Children’s Trust (PANI) established a notification system with RED 9-1-1, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and which has increased the capacity to issue warnings and report situations of imminent risk to children and young persons, mobilizing the inter-institutional network for their protection; and (3) in 2023, there were nine minors recorded by the Immediate Response Team of the National Coalition against Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking (CONATT), six of whom were identified as victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, one as a direct victim of trafficking in persons and two as victims of trafficking in persons for domestic servitude.

Furthermore, the Committee notes that, in its report on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Government indicates that once a person’s situation as a trafficking victim is detected or brought to light, there is immediate coordination with the Office for Assistance and Protection for Crime Victims under the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OAPVD), in order for the office to provide the necessary care and protection services for trafficking victims.

The Committee also notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations, noted with concern: (1) that the country is a country of origin, transit and destination for trafficking in persons, in particular women and girls, for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour, and that there is a heightened risk of sex trafficking for Indigenous, Afrodescendent and migrant women and girls in the Pacific coastal zones; and (2) the prevalence of child sex tourism in the State party (CEDAW/C/CRI/CO/8, 2 March 2023, paragraph 25). In these circumstances, while noting this information, the Committee requests the Government to make every possible effort to prevent children from being victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. In this respect, it requests the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) time-bound measures taken to prevent children from being victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and to remove them from such situations so they can be rehabilitated and socially integrated; and (ii) the results achieved, in terms of the number of children who have been identified, removed, rehabilitated and socially integrated.

Clauses (a) and (c). Preventing children from becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour and ensuring access to free basic education for all children removed from the worst forms of child labour. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (1) the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MTSS), through a cooperation agreement with the Joint Social Assistance Institute (IMAS), has granted conditional monetary transfers to over 1,400 children under 15 years identified in situations of child labour, to ensure that they remain in education (532 in 2021, 532 in 2022 and 412 in 2023); and (2) between 2023 and 2024, IMAS processed 2,120 conditional monetary transfers to facilitate children’s access to Casas de la Alegría [Happiness Homes], care centres that take in children while their parents are working in agricultural harvesting.

The Committee also notes the observations of the UCCAEP, which indicate that it signed an agreement with the Ministry of Public Education to promote the “Adopt a School” programme. This programme seeks to identify schools in the country most in need of infrastructure, connectivity, classroom furniture and equipment, with a view to obtaining support from the private business sector. The Committee also notes that the CTRN and the CMTC allege that between 2022 and 2023 the Government reduced the education budget and grants, which may lead to school drop-out by the most vulnerable children. In this respect, the Committee notes that the 2023 annual UNICEF report indicates that the reduction in social and public investment affected certain child protection and education programmes being provided for vulnerable children.

The Committee notes that, according to the Costa Rica country profile under UNESCO’s Information System for Education Trends in Latin America (SITEAL), in 2021: (1) the primary school adjusted net enrolment rate was 99.4 per cent for boys and 99.5 per cent for girls; and (2) the lower secondary school adjusted net enrolment rate was 68.4 per cent for boys and 72.9 per cent for girls (an increase compared with 2020, where enrolment rates were 66 and 68.4 per cent for boys and girls respectively). The Committee recalls that education plays a fundamental role in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee therefore requests the Government to continue its efforts to improve access to free basic education for all children, including the most vulnerable, to prevent them from falling into the worst forms of child labour. In this respect, it requests the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) the specific measures adopted to ensure that all children have access to free basic education, including at lower secondary level; and (ii) the results achieved, especially the statistics, in terms of trends in school enrolment, attendance and completion rates at primary and lower secondary levels, as well as the school drop-out rate, including for the most vulnerable children.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.