[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1133, 207], "category": "Text", "text": "officials rotated into new positions every three months to one year, resulting in a cyclical loss of institutional knowledge and impeding specialization in the investigation of trafficking crimes."}, {"bbox": [96, 218, 1135, 511], "category": "Text", "text": "The government decreased protection efforts. Officials did not report identifying, protecting, or referring trafficking victims to care, compared with identifying 594 trafficking victims in 2021. An NGO reported authorities referred an unknown number of victims to care in 2022. NGOs noted a significant increase in Venezuelan trafficking victims and cases of trafficking facilitated by a Venezuelan transnational criminal gang. The government had a victim identification protocol and NRM; however, authorities did not report using the protocol to identify or refer victims. The government's overlapping legal framework and understanding of human trafficking and related crimes limited victim identification efforts. Authorities confused human trafficking with other crimes, such as general labor exploitation, sexual abuse, and migrant smuggling, hindering their ability to identify trafficking victims. Authorities from the Ministry of Health did not receive training on victim identification and did not screen for trafficking indicators despite periodically administering medical tests to individuals in commercial sex, a population vulnerable to sex trafficking."}, {"bbox": [96, 521, 1135, 813], "category": "Text", "text": "The government maintained prevention efforts. The Plurinational Council against Human Trafficking and Smuggling, chaired by the Ministry of Justice, was responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking efforts at the national level and met 17 times. Two sub-ministerial units were responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking efforts at the technical level. In 2022, the government – with the support of international organizations and civil society actors – approved the 2021-2025 NAP, which focused on prevention of the crime, victim protection and care, prosecution of traffickers, and the improvement of international and national coordination. However, authorities did not report reviewing or investigating any applications that raised trafficking concerns. The MOL conducted inspections in 2022, but officials did not report identifying any victims of forced labor. Labor authorities reported conducting awareness campaigns to educate the public on the worst forms of child labor, which likely included trafficking crimes against children. Authorities did not report training officials on the identification of victims of forced labor."}, {"bbox": [96, 826, 1135, 1173], "category": "Text", "text": "As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Bolivia, and traffickers exploit victims from Bolivia abroad. Traffickers exploit Bolivian adults and children in sex trafficking and forced labor within the country and abroad. To a more limited extent, traffickers exploited women from neighboring countries, including Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay, in sex trafficking in Bolivia. Traffickers exploit an increasing number of Venezuelan victims in sex trafficking and forced labor within the country. According to a 2022 report from the Ombudsman's Office, 63 percent of victims identified were female, and 28 percent were male. Child sex tourists exploited children in sex trafficking in rural Indigenous communities in the north of the La Paz department, in and around the city of Rurrenabaque, and in tourist areas in the departments of La Paz and Beni. Rural and poor Bolivians, most of whom are Indigenous, and LGTBI youth are particularly at risk for sex and labor trafficking. Traffickers continue to use social media as the primary recruitment tool, luring vulnerable individuals with fraudulent employment opportunities and then exploiting them in forced labor or sex trafficking. Civil society organizations noted a pattern of exploitation in which older trafficking victims became recruiters of younger victims."}, {"bbox": [96, 1184, 1031, 1239], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### Identification of main stakeholders and corresponding institutional and/or organisational issues (mandates, potential roles, and capacities) to be covered by the action:"}, {"bbox": [96, 1250, 1135, 1491], "category": "Text", "text": "Law 263 of 2012—the Comprehensive Law against Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons—criminalised labor trafficking and some forms of sex trafficking through amendments to Bolivia's Criminal Code. The Plurinational Council against Human Trafficking and Smuggling, chaired by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), is responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking efforts at the national level. Two sub-ministerial units are responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking efforts at the technical level. In addition, the Ministry of Interior through Police and the Bolivian Ombudsman also have competences in prosecution and protection. Local Authorities such as regional, departmental and communal government and services have the mandate to elaborate local strategies for prevention and accompanying victims of trafficking and smuggling of migrants. There is a lack of interagency coordination, in part due to overlapping mandates."}, {"bbox": [96, 1500, 1135, 1608], "category": "Text", "text": "Regarding international actors, EU Member States such as Spain and The Netherlands are funding NGOs in Bolivia working with communities in prevention of Trafficking in Human Being and supporting victims. UN agencies such as UNODC also work with migrants and vulnerable people as well with the Government in order to strengthen the current policies and capacities in this area. Last but not least, several Community Based Organisations (CBOs),"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1681, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 19"}]