U.S. Dep't of State, 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: El Salvador

EL SALVADOR (Tier 2) The Government of El Salvador does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period; therefore, El Salvador remained on Tier 2. These efforts included prosecuting more suspects, convicting more traffickers, assisting more child victims in the government’s specialized shelter, and increasing anti-trafficking training for criminal justice officials. The government arrested and detained thousands of suspected gang members on charges of illicit association, which disabled criminal networks that fueled sex and labor trafficking.

However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Authorities did not have procedures to identify trafficking victims among the individuals they apprehended for gang affiliation. Authorities initiated fewer investigations and identified fewer victims. The government did not identify any adult male victims or foreign national victims.

PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: Increase efforts to vigorously investigate and prosecute sex and labor trafficking crimes and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms. Increase efforts to proactively identify trafficking victims from at-risk groups, including by screening for trafficking indicators among children and women apprehended for gang-related activity, and refer victims to service providers. Increase the availability of specialized, trauma-informed services for all identified trafficking victims, and collaborate with civil society organizations in providing this care. Update victim protection policies and practices such that decisions about victim care, including residence in the government’s specialized shelter program for female child trafficking victims, are made solely on the best interests of the victim and are not contingent on criminal justice proceedings.

Increase and institutionalize anti-trafficking training for police, immigration officials, municipal security personnel, prosecutors, and judges. Ensure the law includes a definition of human trafficking consistent with international law. Expand efforts to prevent and respond to trafficking in the tourism sector, including training for tourist police and local service providers on victim identification, referral, and protection; publicizing methods for members of the public to seek assistance or report suspected cases; and imposing meaningful penalties on owners of bars, hotels, or other businesses whose practices facilitate trafficking crimes.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts to prosecute trafficking crimes. The 2014 Special Law Against Trafficking in Persons criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of 10 to 14 years’ imprisonment; these penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. The law considered the use of force, fraud, or coercion as an aggravating factor rather than an essential element of the crime; the penalties increased to 16 to 20 years’ imprisonment for trafficking offenses involving these factors. The law defined trafficking broadly to include fraudulent adoption without the purpose of exploitation.

In 2024, authorities investigated 18 new suspected trafficking cases (13 for sex trafficking, two for forced labor, and three for unspecified forms of trafficking), a decrease from investigating 38 cases (23 for sex trafficking, four for labor trafficking, and 11 for unspecified forms of trafficking) in 2023. Authorities reported initiating prosecutions of 504 suspects, including three suspects for sex trafficking, two for labor trafficking, and five for unspecified forms of trafficking. The government initiated a mass trial of the remaining 494 suspects, alleged MS-13 gang members arrested under the State of Exception – some of whom were tried in absentia – for allegedly leading criminal networks responsible for thousands of crimes over a decade, including sex and labor trafficking. The government reported the suspects were charged with human trafficking, illicit association, homicide, terrorism, and other crimes.

In comparison, authorities initiated prosecutions of 43 suspects (15 for sex trafficking, two for labor trafficking, and 26 for unspecified forms of trafficking) in 2023. Authorities also continued previously initiated prosecutions of 39 suspects (11 for sex trafficking, four for labor trafficking, and 24 for unspecified forms of trafficking), compared with continuing prosecutions of four suspects (two for sex trafficking and two for labor trafficking) in 2023. The total number of new and ongoing prosecutions in 2024 was an increase from the total in 2023. Authorities convicted 11 traffickers – including seven for sex trafficking crimes, one for both sex trafficking and labor trafficking crimes, and three for unspecified trafficking crimes – and acquitted one suspect.

This was a notable increase from 2023, when authorities did not convict any traffickers. Some prosecutions or convictions may have been for crimes that did not meet the definition of trafficking. The government reported sentencing data for eight of the convicted offenders, with imposed sentences ranging from five to 26 years’ imprisonment. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees for complicity in human trafficking crimes.

The government maintained specialized police investigative units and prosecution units with jurisdiction over human trafficking and migrant smuggling crimes throughout the country. In addition, the government operated police specialized victim assistance Units (UNIMUJER) dedicated to domestic violence in 36 locations across the country, and officials in these units also identified trafficking victims. Officials in the government’s 19 Specialized Care Units for Women, Children, and Adolescents (UAEMNA) prosecution units, located throughout the country, and those in specialized units against organized crime and terrorism, also prosecuted trafficking crimes. The absence of an electronic case management system limited efforts to collect, share, and analyze law enforcement information.

The specialized prosecution unit employed a psychologist, and authorities made efforts to collect victims’ statements through a single interview to minimize exposure to re-traumatization during multiple interviews. Law enforcement conducted interviews in secure and private locations including Gesell chambers and a government center for psycho-social assistance to children. However, in some cases police reportedly used harsh questioning during victim interviews that re-traumatized victims. Observers reported judges did not have an adequate understanding of the complexity of trafficking crimes.

The police academy continued to incorporate anti-trafficking topics in standardized and advanced training courses. The government trained additional police officers as trainers on human trafficking issues including victim identification and referral. The government delivered additional trainings to law enforcement and criminal justice officials, with financial and technical support from international donors. The judiciary developed an online training course on international judicial cooperation on trafficking and held a workshop on trafficking issues for judicial and administrative staff.

Police in El Salvador’s transnational criminal investigation unit worked closely with U.S. law enforcement counterparts to investigate transnational crimes, although the government did not report any human trafficking investigations from this unit during the year. Police cooperated with their Guatemalan counterparts on an investigation that led to two arrests in El Salvador of members of an alleged extremist religious group suspected of crimes against children, including possible human trafficking; authorities initiated the extradition of one of the suspects to Guatemala. In a separate case, authorities extradited a Venezuelan national suspected of trafficking crimes to face charges in Mexico.

PROTECTION

The government decreased victim protection efforts. The government identified 27 victims, including 19 exploited in sex trafficking, four exploited in labor trafficking, and four exploited in unspecified forms of trafficking. Sex trafficking victims included 16 girls, one boy, and two women; labor trafficking victims included four children; victims of unspecified forms of trafficking included three girls and one woman. This was a decrease from 40 victims identified in 2023.

An NGO also identified and assisted four women, two exploited in sex trafficking and two exploited in unspecified forms of trafficking. All 31 victims identified by the government and NGOs were Salvadoran. Unlike 2023, the government did not identify any adult male victims or foreign victims. The government’s 2018 Inter-Institutional Action Protocol for the Immediate Comprehensive Care of Victims of Trafficking in Persons outlined the roles and responsibilities of government agencies in identifying and responding to trafficking victims.

The protocol included formal procedures to guide officials in proactive victim identification and referral, and some institutions had internal guidelines as well. The government reported victims were not required to speak with law enforcement officials in order to access care and officials could refer potential victims directly to service providers. In practice, victims who chose not to speak with law enforcement had limited access to services, as many services were delivered or coordinated by prosecution units and the government’s specialized shelter was only accessible to victims participating in a criminal case. The government provided immediate assistance to the 27 victims it identified and referred them each to government or NGO service providers for additional care such as health, legal, or shelter services.

Authorities also provided ongoing support for victims identified in previous years. The specialized prosecution unit had one psychologist on staff to provide psychological services to victims throughout legal proceedings; this unit, along with the UAEMNA prosecution units, provided mental health and psycho-social support for 19 victims identified in 2024 and 12 identified in previous years. The government provided medical care and financial stipends to 14 victims identified in 2024. It also provided food or food vouchers to 102 victims identified in previous years and medical treatment or pharmacy vouchers to 17 victims identified in previous years.

PGR offered assistance on legal matters to victims of crime, including trafficking victims, and had a mandate to procure a wide range of additional supports to meet the needs of individual victims; however, the government did not dedicate adequate funding for the PGR and its capacity to provide this support was severely constrained. The National Council for Early Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence (CONAPINA) provided protection to children who were victims of crimes, including trafficking victims. In consultation with other agencies, CONAPINA coordinated child trafficking victims’ care through referral to a shelter, placement with a foster family, or reunification with their families. CONAPINA opened new offices in five overseas Salvadoran consular posts, but the government did not report identifying or assisting any child trafficking victims exploited abroad in 2024.

CONAPINA operated one specialized shelter program for trafficking victims, which could house 20 girls between the ages of eight and 17.In 2024, the shelter program assisted eight victims and two of their children, an increase from assisting three victims in 2023. Only victims participating in a court case involving trafficking charges were accepted into the shelter, and victims were transferred out to other facilities offering general services if courts found alleged abusers not guilty. Female victims could access general services for female survivors of violence, which were provided by the government’s Institute for the Development of Women (ISDEMU). ISDEMU trained technical staff located throughout the country on the anti-trafficking law, methods of coercion in human trafficking, and protocols for victim referral and protection.

ISDEMU officials referred some female trafficking victims to its shelter for female survivors of violence. In the ISDEMU shelters, authorities restricted residents’ movement and limited their participation in outside activities, including work. Male child victims could receive care in one of eight CONAPINA shelters that served a generalized population of vulnerable children, but the government did not provide specialized shelter services to male victims. Foreign victims were eligible for the same services as Salvadoran citizens regardless of immigration status; however, authorities acknowledged that a lack of documentation or fear of communicating with authorities could pose barriers for some foreign victims to access services.

The government occasionally referred foreign victims to a migrant shelter operated by its General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners (DGME), but did not identify any foreign victims in 2024. The government reported a need for a specialized shelter to assist male victims and/or victims who could not access other shelters on the basis of their sexual orientation and designated a plot of land for this purpose during the previous reporting period; however, it did not report new progress on this initiative. The government provided services for adult victims not residing in a shelter and it offered some ongoing support for victims. The government trained front-line officials, including law enforcement officers, immigration personnel, social services staff, healthcare workers, labor inspectors, and tourism promoters, on victim identification and referral procedures.

Front-line officials followed procedures to proactively identify indicators of trafficking when interacting with members of some vulnerable groups including illegal migrants, individuals in commercial sex, individuals experiencing homelessness, and children in need of protection. However, local experts reported some officials lacked sufficient training to properly identify, interact with, or protect victims who were at times mistaken for criminals and punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The government did not have procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims among children and women apprehended for gang-related activity. Under the State of Exception, arrests of children for alleged gang-related activity increased; officials detained and arrested these children without considering whether they were trafficking victims who had been compelled into forced criminal activity.

Although the government reported many suspects arrested under the State of Exception allegedly committed or facilitated trafficking crimes, it did not report identifying or providing assistance to victims of these crimes. Salvadoran law required judges to consider civil liability when issuing a conviction for human trafficking crimes, and in 2024 courts ordered all 11 convicted traffickers to pay victims restitution. However, most of the restitution amounts remained under deliberation and no victims were paid restitution during the reporting period. The 2014 law required the government to create a victim compensation fund, with an allocated budget, and establish a technical administration unit to manage it, but the government did not fulfill this mandate.

The government reported granting victim-witness protection measures, relative to individual safety risks, for participating victims and witnesses through the duration of a trial. El Salvador’s penal code allowed all trafficking victims to provide video or written testimony in advance of a trial instead of testifying in court. The government provided some victims with access to a Gesell chamber to provide their statements. In 2024, 19 identified victims provided pre-trial statements.

Local experts reported lengthy investigations and prosecutions led some victims to cease participation before the conclusion of criminal justice processes. A 2019 immigration law granted foreign victims the right to obtain residency – with multiple entry and exit permission and the ability to work – for an initial period of up to two years with the option to extend. However, the government did not identify any foreign victims or provide residency to any foreign victims identified in previous years.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security led the government’s national anti-trafficking council, comprised of 13 government institutions and responsible for coordinating the government’s anti-trafficking efforts. The council met regularly throughout the reporting period. The government reported the anti-trafficking action plan, though expired, continued to guide the council’s activities.

The anti-trafficking council strengthened efforts to collect, share, and report data on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts. Several member institutions of the council conducted anti-trafficking awareness and prevention activities, including a radio campaign on identifying and reporting forced labor and training and awareness sessions in schools. In collaboration with an NGO, officials held information sessions on human trafficking issues for municipal officials and local NGOs in three regions of the country. ISDEMU operated a 24/7 hotline to provide vulnerable individuals with legal guidance and psychological care in cases of violence, including trafficking; CONAPINA operated a 24/7 hotline for members of the public to seek assistance related to child protection issues; and the government operated an online platform to provide consular guidance and emergency services to migrant Salvadoran women.

The government did not report whether it identified any trafficking victims or initiated any investigations from contacts to these platforms. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) primarily managed El Salvador’s recruitment process for temporary workers on H-2 visas to the United States; the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare managed the process for a temporary worker program with Canada and began discussions for a similar program with Costa Rica. The MFA led an awareness campaign to warn H-2 applicants against fraudulent recruitment practices and operated a hotline for H-2 visa holders to report anomalies or issues experienced during recruitment or overseas employment; however, it did not regularly report the allegations it received to Salvadoran or U.S. law enforcement for investigation of possible trafficking or other crimes. The government did not report providing warnings or information against fraudulent recruitment practices for employment in El Salvador.

The MFA conducted four-part pre-departure orientation sessions for H-2 visa holders, including providing information on labor laws in the United States and reviewing the terms of workers’ contracts. Consulates in the United States maintained employees trained to respond to labor concerns of Salvadoran workers, including possible cases of forced labor, but did not report assisting any victims. The labor code prohibited withholding pay, but the government did not effectively enforce this provision. Neither the labor code nor the penal code specified fines or punishment for fraudulent recruitment of workers.

Labor inspectors did not identify any possible forced labor victims or refer any suspected cases to law enforcement. The government did not issue an executive decree, as required by a 2020 supreme court decision, to establish and implement a minimum wage for domestic workers. CONAPINA, PGR, and the Office of the Ombudsperson for Human Rights coordinated to inspect nightclubs for evidence of businesses employing or exploiting minors. The Ministry of Tourism continued efforts to prevent trafficking in the tourism sector.

It trained ministry staff and tourism police on the anti-trafficking law, conducted outreach to tourism businesses and employees on a voluntary code of conduct for preventing trafficking and other crimes, and collaborated with CONAPINA to train hotel and restaurant workers to identify and respond to possible cases of human trafficking. Salvadoran law criminalized extraterritorial sexual exploitation and abuse by nationals or foreigners and prescribed penalties of four to 10 years’ imprisonment, but authorities did not report any investigations or prosecutions. The government did not report investigating or prosecuting any individuals suspected of purchasing sex acts from trafficking victims or making other efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. TRAFFICKING PROFILE: This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years.

Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in El Salvador, and traffickers exploit victims from El Salvador abroad. Traffickers exploit adults and children in sex trafficking in the country; experts report children without parents, and adolescent girls, are at particular risk. Traffickers exploit victims in sex trafficking in the tourism industry, and foreign tourists sexually exploit and abuse children in El Salvador. The government reported traffickers increasingly use short-term rental properties as venues for this exploitation.

Salvadoran officials and other local experts report the rapid growth in international tourism to El Salvador has created new risks of sex trafficking and forced labor, particularly among low-income youth living in tourist areas. Traffickers exploit Salvadoran adults and children in forced labor in agriculture, domestic service, criminal activity including drug trafficking, street vending, and begging. Traffickers exploit adults and children from neighboring countries – particularly Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua – in sex trafficking and forced labor in construction, domestic service, or the informal sector. Traffickers increasingly use social media and messaging platforms to lure victims, including through false employment or educational opportunities in El Salvador or abroad, and facilitate their exploitation.

Traffickers frequently recruit girls and young women through fraudulent employment offers over social media; they solicit personal information from victims to use as leverage to compel victims into sex trafficking under threat of reputational or physical harm to victims or their families. Before the government’s 2022 State of Exception and enhanced law enforcement against criminal gangs, weak government presence in gang-controlled territory worsened trafficking risks. However, since 2022, territorial gang control has effectively been ended across El Salvador after the arrests of thousands of suspected gang members. Media sources documented gangs’ loss of control over neighborhoods throughout the country.

Residents of these neighborhoods reported observing a significant decline in extortion and violence and increase in freedom of movement that continued through 2024. Before 2022, traffickers recruited victims in regions of the country with high levels of violence and capitalized on fear to coerce victims and their families through threats of violence. Experts reported gang members subjected women and children to sex trafficking and forced labor in domestic service and childcare. Gangs subjected children to forced labor in illicit activities and gang members intimidated, harassed, and coerced children to join their ranks, then employed violence and threats to compel affiliated children to commit unlawful acts.

There are an estimated 140,000-200,000 children in El Salvador with at least one parent who has migrated abroad or is detained under the State of Exception; experts report these children are particularly vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking. Children whose family members have been arrested experience stigma from community members who perceive them as being connected to gangs, exacerbating other risk factors. Traffickers exploit Salvadoran men, women, and children in sex trafficking and forced labor in Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States, and possibly Europe. Traffickers exploit some Salvadorans who illegally immigrate to the United States in forced labor, forced criminal activity, and sex trafficking en route or upon arrival.

Traffickers exploit some foreign victims from Asia, South America, or other Central American countries in sex and labor trafficking in El Salvador. Individuals without personal identification documents are highly vulnerable to trafficking. Corruption and complicity among some individual government officials occurred. On This Page search > < EL SALVADOR (Tier 2) PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: PROSECUTION PROTECTION PREVENTION TRAFFICKING PROFILE: Tags Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs El Salvador Human Trafficking Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Reports