The number of victims of human trafficking is high. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in 2018 some 50,000 victims of trafficking were detected and reported worldwide. 50% of these crimes were committed for the purpose of sexual exploitation, while 38% were for forced labor. In cases of sexual exploitation, nine out of ten victims (92%) are women and girls.
Today, October 18, the European Day against Trafficking in Persons is celebrated, a day that represents a new opportunity to continue denouncing the situation of violation of Human Rights in which the victims of this crime find themselves.
Last year, Cáritas accompanied 3,312 women through various programs in which specialized care is provided in contexts of prostitution, sexual exploitation and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Of this total, 1,762 women were contacted through visits to places of prostitution, while 1,550 received care at one of our specialized care centers.
The number of women in whom a situation of sexual exploitation was detected was 529. “The number is less than the previous year. We believe that not only the lower number of visits to places where women practice prostitution has had an influence, but also the difficulties in detecting signs of sexual exploitation”, he explains. Paul Noeliaresponsible for the programs for women, prostitution and trafficking of Cáritas Española.
According to the data collected by our entity, 301 women presented signs of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation (9% of the accompanied women), of which 74 women (2.2%) were formally identified by the Police Forces and Bodies. State Security. “For yet another year, the data indicates the need to implement a new identification mechanism that allows for better detection and identification, and therefore protection for the victims,” De Pablo stresses.
great difficulties
The long history of work of Cáritas in this field of social exclusion allows us to witness the difficulties that women experience to get out of the situation in which they find themselves. Among them we highlight:
The high percentage of women of foreign origin. The reality of migratory flows demonstrates how women suffer different types of violence in the country of origin. “To this is added the lack of opportunities here and there, in addition to the deceptions and promises that do not correspond to the reality of what they find when they arrive in our country,” says De Pablo.
Almost all of these women have family responsibilities. In most cases, the main reason for the migratory process that these women experience is the search for opportunities for themselves and their children. In some cases, the minors they are in charge of are in Spain and, in others, they must take care of them in their country of origin.
The stigma of the context of prostitution. This reality conditions women due to the possibility of rejection from their family and their community. “This entails a strong psychological and physical impact that is evident in isolation, insecurity, fears and phobias, guilt, emotional dependence, destruction of one’s own identity and processes of learned helplessness. In a high percentage of them this translates into post-traumatic stress disorder”, indicates De Pablo.
Increase in the exercise of prostitution in flats. As in previous years, the closure of the clubs has increased the displacement of women to the flats. “This makes it less and less accessible to social entities, which makes our work difficult,” says De Pablo.
All these situations, added to the irregular administrative situation in which many women find themselves, entails a serious violation of rights, such as access to aid, employment, health or housing, among others.
To these difficulties we must also add the use and abuse of new technologies. In recent years, human trafficking networks have adapted to the new dynamics and use new technologies as forms of recruitment, in addition to the fact that sexual exploitation through the Internet is more common (video calls, live sessions, etc.) .
Faced with this reality, the approval of a Comprehensive Law against Trafficking is increasingly urgent, as the Spanish Network Against Trafficking in Persons (RECTP) has been demanding for years, of which Cáritas is a collaborator.
Said Law, with adequate budget allocation, should incorporate issues such as:
1. Address all forms of trafficking for the different forms of exploitation (sexual, labor, forced begging, forced crime, forced marriage, etc.) from a human rights perspective and a gender and childhood perspective. It must also have a clear and committed budget allocation.
2. Have the rank of Organic Law, consolidating the progress that has been made in this area in recent years and providing a stable framework of obligations, giving coherence to the current legal system.
3. Creation of a state coordinating body with a permanent commission and a multidisciplinary technical team that is in charge, among other things, of the victim identification process. Two types of identification would be established: provisional identification and formal identification.
4. Attention and protection of victims from an integral dimension.
Caritas, in line with the message of Pope Francis, on the occasion of the last World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Trafficking in Persons, recalls that “trafficking in persons is violence” and encourages all of society to combat “all forms of of exploitation”.
