and international organisations are working to alleviate the problem. Sex trafficking Paraguay is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking. Paraguayan women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking within the country, and transgender Paraguayans are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Thousands of Paraguayan children work as domestic servants in exchange for food, board, and occasionally education or a small stipend in a system called criadazgo; many of these children are subjected to domestic servitude and are highly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Indigenous persons are particularly at risk for sex trafficking. In 2015, authorities reported at least 24 Paraguayan women were recruited for work in Turkey and later exploited in forced prostitution in brothels throughout Turkey, Spain, and the northern area of Cyprus administered by Turkish Cypriots. The reliance of international trafficking rings on local recruiters remains a problem. Traffickers offer victims their freedom or pardon of debts if they recruit other victims and often rely on social media outlets as recruiting tools. Foreign victims of sex trafficking in Paraguay are mostly from other South American countries. Paraguayan victims of sex trafficking are found in Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, China, Colombia, and other countries. Paraguayan women are recruited as couriers of illicit narcotics to Europe and Africa, where they are subjected to forced prostitution. NGOs and authorities reported government officials, including police, border guards, judges, and public registry employees, facilitated human trafficking, including by taking bribes from brothel owners in exchange for protection, extorting suspected traffickers in order to prevent arrest, and producing fraudulent identity documents. The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranked Paraguay as a Tier 2 country. References External links Child Prostitution -The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Crime in Paraguay Society of Paraguay Paraguay Paraguay Women's rights in Paraguay Social issues in Paraguay