Public Opinion is Clear: Urgent Legislation Required to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation! Read the story

Guatemala

Members

ECPAT Guatemala’s work focuses on child protection and the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children through training sessions for officials and organisations involved in combating CSEC; coordinating programmes that provide direct care to child victims of CSE; researching and developing literature and other materials on the subject; technical consulting; promoting public policies on social and organisational protection; and lobbying for legal reforms to help children and young people who are victims of CSE.

ECPAT Guatemala

Contact: Dra. Maria Eugenia Villarreal
Phone: (+502) 2254-7916, 2254-8689
Address: 11 avenida 10-67 zona 2, Ciudad Nueva Ciudad de Guatemala Guatemala, C.A. 01002
Email: info@ecpatguatemala.org
Website: https://ecpat.org.gt

Facts

Reportedly, in Guatemala children belonging to ethnic minorities and indigenous groups are more vulnerable to SEC.

The production and dissemination of child sexual abuse material has been reported in the regions of Huehuetenango, Jutiapa, Retalhuleu and Guatemala City, among others. Often child victims are recruited as masseurs or masseuses through advertisements in newspapers.

Resources

ECPAT International
Latin America – Summary of Recommendations: Legal Interventions in Latin America

Year: 2022

ECPAT International
The Americas – Preventing the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (GARA)

Year: 2022

GARA, ECPAT International & Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN-OEA)
The Americas – Protocolo y Decálogo para Guías de Turismo 2022 (GARA)

Year: 2022

Download
ECPAT International
Guatemala – Lista de Verificación Jurídicas Claves en la Protección de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes contra la Explotación Sexual en el Contexto de Viaje y Turismo

Year: 2022

Download
ECPAT International
The Americas – Overview of Child Protection Standards for Travel and Tourism

Year: 2020

ECPAT International
Guatemala – Country Monitoring Report

Year: 2014

Stories

News from Guatemala

Indicators

Age of Consent

Not Yet Assessed

Extraterritoriality & Extradition

No

Active extraterritoriality is provided in the case of a Guatemalan national whose extradition to another country has been denied. No information is provided on specific provisions with relation to SEC crimes or the applicability of the double criminality requirement.

No detailed information is provided with regards to extradition for SEC-related crimes or on the double criminality principle in extradition cases.

SECTT Legal Checklist Guatemala, 2020

CSAM Definition

Partial

The national legislation provide a definition of CSAM which is partially in line with international standards, as it does not cover material depicting a person appearing to be a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Law against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons Decree Number 9-2009, 2018

Background Check Required

Yes

There is a mandatory provision for criminal background check for people to work with minors, in permanent or personal activities.

Decree Number 22-2017 Law on Genetic Data Bank for forensic use, 2017

National Commitments

Partial

Guatemala has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No. 182.

Guatemala has not ratified the OPIC, the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.

SECTT Legal Checklist Guatemala, 2020

Child Advocacy Centers

No

There is no Child Advocacy Center in Guatemala. While two organisations, Asociación La Alianza and Asociación Refugio de la Niñez, support children and adolescents in their processes of protection and criminal prosecution of offenders, they do not enable for cooperation between law enforcement, criminal justice and child protection services.

ECPAT Guatemala, 2021

SEC Police Unit

Partial

There is a Specialised Unit against Trafficking in Persons of the Criminal Investigations Directorate of the National Civil Police, which investigates, among other things, the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. They are also part of the Immediate Response Team. There is no unit dedicated to all types of SEC.

UNODC, 2020

Protection Standards Travel and Tourism

Partial

Guatemala has implemented a national code for child protection in travel and tourism as a non-binding requirement for industry operators.

SECTT Legal Checklist Guatemala, 2020

Public SEC Case Data

Not Yet Assessed