Journalists are also frequently “subjected to harassment, intimidation, and violence – primarily from drug trafficking gangs and criminal syndicates based in departments bordering Brazil – due to their reporting.” The government does not limit Internet access or academic freedom; freedom of assembly is restricted, with demonstrations allowed only at certain times and places.
Women technically enjoy equal rights but sexual discrimination, especially in employment and pay, is common and traditional.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called on Paraguay in 2011 to conduct “awareness-raising and public educational campaigns...with a view to bring about changes in traditional attitudes associated with discriminatory gender roles in the family and in society at large.” It also suggested that the media and advertisers adopt a “code of conduct” with the goal of avoiding sexual stereotypes and preventing gender discrimination.
The committee also called for more vigorous prosecution of perpetrators of violence against women and intensified efforts to raise awareness throughout Paraguay of the inappropriateness of such activity.
[2] The UN Human Rights Committee called on Paraguay in 2006 to “ensure that legislation protecting against gender discrimination is enforced and that the institutions created for that purpose are adequately financed for effective operation.” It also asked Paraguay “to ensure equal working conditions for men and women and to increase participation by women in all areas of public and private life.” As for Paraguay's “restrictive abortion laws,” the committee asked Paraguay to “take effective action to reduce infant and maternal mortality by, inter alia, revising its legislation on abortion ...and ensuring that contraceptives are available to the general public, especially in rural areas.”[3] A 2023 US State Department report indicated no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization by government authorities.
Also, the National Federation of Workers (Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores, CNT) has criticized the failure to consult indigenous persons on laws affecting their rights.
[6] The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Paraguay in 2012 to protect indigenous people's rights, especially land claims.
[7] In the same year, Amnesty International suggested that “approving and implementing anti-discrimination legislation that adheres to international human rights standards would play an important role in promoting Indigenous Peoples’ rights and in requiring concrete actions to uphold them.”[6] Paraguayan nationality is acquired by being born in Paraguay, or to citizens temporarily living abroad, or government employees serving abroad.
Despite these efforts, children in Paraguay still face the worst forms of child labor, such as domestic servitude, human trafficking, debt bondage in cattle raising, dairy farms, and charcoal factories.
LGBT groups operate freely, and the government issues permits and provides security for gay-pride marches.
There are known to be slaves in Paraguay, especially among domestic servants; parents sell children to perform forced labor, smuggle drugs, and commit other crimes.
The report refers to “routine incidents of police involvement in homicide, arms and narcotics trafficking, car theft, robbery, extortion, and kidnapping throughout the country, with such abuses particularly widespread in Ciudad del Este and other areas bordering Brazil.” Between 2008 and 2010, several police officers were arrested for or found guilty of various acts of murder and manslaughter.
[1] The 2023 US Department of State report on Paraguay noted that while laws were in place to address corruption, their enforcement was found to be lacking.
Reports indicated instances of corruption across various government branches and levels, including embezzlement, tax evasion, illicit enrichment, and criminal association.
As of 2010, about 30 percent of the inmates in Paraguayan prisons should have, according to the country's constitution, been released already but were still being held pending a judge's order.
Paraguay permits the media, human-rights groups, the Red Cross, and other organizations to visit prisons and monitor conditions.
[1] A group of international human-rights organizations issued a statement in December 2012 denouncing “the health plight of 10 farmers who have been on a hunger strike for nearly two months after being arbitrarily detained in the prison of Coronel Oviedo, Caaguazú department, Paraguay.” The strikers were described as “part of a group of 54 people who have been arbitrarily charged with seven criminal charges including offense of murder, attempted murder, serious injury, criminal association, grave coercion, coercion and invasion.” The statement listed a series of violations of Paraguayan law that had been made in connection with this case.