Guatemala

As an 8.7 Alliance Pathfinder country, Guatemala is making efforts to end the conditions that enable modern slavery to exist.

According to the 2025 US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, the Government of Guatemala has shown a continued commitment to combating trafficking, strengthening victim identification, investigations, shelter services, and child protection reforms. Nevertheless, challenges persist in increasing prosecutions and convictions, expanding services beyond the capital—particularly for adult male survivors—and ensuring accountability in cases of official complicity. Continued institutional strengthening and coordinated partnerships remain essential to sustain progress.

According to the report, authorities reported initiating 765 human trafficking investigations, compared with 452 cases investigated in 2023, and initiating prosecutions of 63 suspects, compared with 200 suspects prosecuted in 113 cases in 2023, across cases related to sex trafficking, forced labor, and other forms of exploitation.

In 2024, the Guatemalan Migration Institute registered the return of 76,768 Guatemalans. In this context, the Government of Guatemala has implemented the Return Home Plan to ensure reintegration and reduce vulnerabilities among returned migrants. In this regard, the Plan is part of a broader national reintegration framework that includes the Protocol for the Reception and Assistance of Returned Guatemalans (2021) and the National Migration Policy (2023). These efforts seek to reduce structural vulnerabilities that can increase the risk of human trafficking, forced labor, and other forms of modern slavery, by enabling reintegration as a sustainable option rather than a necessity-driven return to migration.

Guatemala’s Law Against Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and Trafficking in Persons (Decree 9-2009) provides a comprehensive, rights-based legal framework. According to Article 202 Ter, the offense of trafficking in persons involving adults does not require proof of force, fraud, or coercion as constituent elements; rather, these factors are considered aggravating circumstances in accordance with Article 204. This legislative design sought to avoid creating unnecessary barriers to prosecuting trafficking crimes, going beyond the minimum standard of the Palermo Protocol. The law also introduced strong provisions on prevention, victim protection, assistance, and inter-institutional coordination, positioning Guatemala as a regional reference at the time of its adoption.

According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, approximately140,000 people — or 7.8 per 1,000 — were living in situations of modern slavery in Guatemala in 2021. Forced labor is prevalent in agriculture, domestic service, construction, and manufacturing. Children are at a greater risk of being exploited in areas such as begging, informal selling, vending, and street performances. Indigenous communities, especially women and children, face higher risks due to structural discrimination, poverty, and geographic isolation.

Guatemala’s engagement in Alliance 8.7 and the adoption of a National Anti-Trafficking Action Plan for 2024-2028 demonstrate its regional commitment to align national efforts with international standards and foster cross-border collaboration to end forced labor, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labor by 2030.