In Nicaragua 7-out-of-10 cases of sexual violation are committed against a girl or adolescent under that age of 18. There are many cases of human trafficking among children in Nicaragua. Children are sold in and out of the country, and when they are rescued the government doesn’t have a place for them. Many of these children do not have a home to return to.
Safe Home: Nicoya & Friends »
Nicoya and Friends was founded in January 2005, as a response to this problem, Doramaria Garcia formed the Nicoya & Friends Foundation as a non-profit organization whose main objective is to provide a home along with psychological, legal, and social assistance to Nicaraguan minor girls who have been victims of sexual abuse and trafficking.
Read Human Trafficking Report for Nicaragua »
Nicaragua is principally a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked within the country and to neighboring countries, most often to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States, for commercial sexual exploitation. The most prevalent form of internal trafficking is the exploitation of children, both boys and girls, in prostitution. NGOs identify Managua, Granada, Esteli, and San Juan del Sur as destinations for foreign child sex tourists.
Facts on Nicaragua »
Nicaragua has the lowest human development index in Central America and the second lowest in Latin America after Haiti. The UNDP puts the poverty rate in Nicaragua at 48 percent, and extreme poverty at 17 percent.
Photo credit: Evelyn Hockstein
