Global Issues

Costa Rica

• 39 women and girls died from domestic violence in 2010.

• Source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.

• Costa Rican women and children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country.

• Women and girls from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and other Latin American countries have been identified in Costa Rica as victims of sex trafficking and forced domestic service.

• Child sex tourism is a serious problem, particularly in the provinces of Guanacaste, Limon, Puntarenas, and San Jose.

• Child sex tourists arrive mostly from the United States, Germany, Sweden, and Italy.

• 33% of women report intimate partner physical violence in their lifetime.

• 36% of women report sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime.

• 47% of women report intimate partner and/or non-partner physical violence in their lifetime.

• 41% of women report intimate partner and/or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.

 

Sources: UN Women Violence against Women Prevalence Data:  Surveys  by  Country 2011; U.S. Department of State 2010 Human Rights Report; U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2011