Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Senate declared an urgent matter and approved in two consecutive readings a bill modifying Article 3 and adding Article 3.1 to Law No. 137-03 on Illicit Trafficking of Migrants and Human Trafficking. Senator Antonio Manuel Taveras Guzmán, president of the Senate’s Justice and Human Rights Committee, presented a favorable report and urged its quick approval.
The modified Article 3 addresses severe human trafficking offenses, including recruitment, transportation, and exploitation of individuals through coercion, deception, and other forms of abuse. It also states that a victim’s consent to exploitation does not exempt the offender from criminal responsibility. Article 3.1 introduces penalties of 10 to 20 years in prison and fines between 150 to 300 times the public sector minimum wage for human trafficking, with increased penalties of 20 to 30 years for offenses involving minors, disabled, or vulnerable persons.