- Poverty and poor border controls have allowed young women to be trafficked into the sex trade catering to illegal gold miners in Brazil’s border areas with countries like Guyana and Venezuela.
- Research by the Federal University of Roraima identified 309 people who were victims of human trafficking between 2022 and 2024.
- In the Guyanese border town of Lethem, young women, mostly from Venezuela but also from Brazil, are trafficked into bars from across the border in Brazil, seemingly without restriction.
- Organized crime networks associated with illegal mining use elaborate recruiting tactics and exploit the vulnerability of victims, who often don’t recognize themselves as trafficked or are afraid to speak out.
I find that it comments much on our current society that my first thought on reading this headline was:
“Bezos has gold mines that are somehow involved in sex trafficking…??” 🤷♂️ 🤡
Welp, I’m guilty of it too. Before I clicked on the link I read your comment and that’s when I realized…
It really is something that a corporation name has become the “first thought” rather than the 7M sq km Amazon basin of So. America… 🙄
Which is funny because I remember when Amazon launched and I thought, “Really? Like the rainforest??”
I’m ashamed
They lure girls and young women with invitations to business trips and promises of high pay, using expensive clothes, jewelry and perfumes as a draw for these poor young people.
Stay away from these groomers, young ladies: it ain’t worth it.
So if we stop illegal gold mining it’ll automatically reduce sex trafficking? That’s a two-for-one deal!
And yet we don’t bomb these places
