Prostitution in Venezuela

Prostitution in Venezuela is legal and regulated. The punishment for involving minors in prostitution is 3 to 6 years.^[1] The Criminal Code prohibits inducing the prostitution or corruption of minors. Punishment is imprisonment for 3 to 18 months. The penalty is doubled if the perpetrator first “corrupted” the minor (that is, if the victim was a virgin). The imprisonment increases to 1 to 4 years if the minor is below the age of 12, if the act is committed by means of fraud or deceit, or if the perpetrator of the act is a person entrusted with the custody or care of the child.

The code also prohibits promoting, directing, or profiting from the sexual activity of minors or adolescents.12 These offenses are punishable by imprisonment for 3 to 6 years, which increases to 4 to 8 years if the offense is committed by a perpetrator who is in a position of authority over the victim.13 It is also a crime to induce, facilitate, or promote prostitution or corruption of another person to satisfy the passions of others, which is punishable by 1 to 6 years’ imprisonment. However, if the victim is a minor, the minimum penalty is increased to 3 years’ imprisonment. The code prohibits a husband or other relative from forcing a wife or female descendent to prostitute herself. The punishment for that act is imprisonment for 4 to 6 years.

Prostitution is common, particularly in Caracas and in other domestic tourist destinations.^[2]

Poor economic conditions and the ease with which fraudulent passports, identity cards, and birth certificates can be obtained create favorable conditions for human trafficking. Women and children from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and the People's Republic of China are trafficked to and through the country and subjected to commercial sexual exploitation. Citizens are trafficked internally and to Western Europe, particularly Spain and the Netherlands, and to countries in the region such as Mexico, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic. In many cases, traffickers place ads for models in regional newspapers and then lure respondents to Caracas under false pretense of employment. ^[3]

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