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Judicial Facilitators against Human Trafficking

For Paraguayan Susano Vazquez, adolescents are the people most vulnerable to human trafficking because they "fall for fake job opportunities, and that is how they become victims of prostitution, organ trafficking, and other negative elements of our society."

Human trafficking is a global scourge that affects 1.8 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean. To fight it, the first step is to inform the most vulnerable people about their rights and to warn them about the risks posed by this crime.

The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, highlighted that "there is a commitment by the countries of this hemisphere to confront this scourge, with strategies for prevention and protection of victims, and for the punishment of those responsible." "This commitment must be translated into continuous action," he wrote in an opinion column published in the newspaper "El País" to mark World Day against Human Trafficking on July 30.

What does the OAS do to help?

In Paraguay and Nicaragua, judicial facilitators trained by the OAS teach teenagers and young people -those most vulnerable to this crime - about the dangers of human trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation.

The OAS Judicial Facilitators Program:

· Operates in 8 countries - Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay and Argentina.

· Has 9,800 judicial facilitators.

- Helps provide access to justice to some 4.7 million people.

- Promotes the inclusion of human trafficking as part of the training of judicial facilitators in Paraguay and Nicaragua.

Paraguay

In Paraguay, 17,381 people 15 departments and 148 municipalities have received information about trafficking in persons from judicial facilitators.

Paraguayan facilitator Susano Vazquez, from San Lorenzo, Ñeembucú (200 kilometers from Asunción), explains that whenever he has the opportunity, he talks about the subject of trafficking in persons with young people.

"I go to schools where I tell students about the types of trafficking, and warn the young people to be alert, to avoid falling prey," says Vazquez, who frequently gives talks in schools in his community.

Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, the action plan of judicial facilitator training has been integrated into the law against human trafficking.

During an event held recently in Managua, Judge Angela Davila Navarrete, head of the Managua Judicial Facilitators Program, urged facilitators in District Seven of the Nicaraguan capital to deliver speeches and motivate people to be alert about the crime of trafficking.

The judge explained that the role of facilitators is to prevent the crime with actions aimed at informing and raising consciousness, so that people know there is a law that protects people from this crime, especially the most vulnerable sectors, such as minors.

Once trained, the 92 facilitators working in the capital District will tour neighborhoods in the area to provide a free service to local communities, to help find peaceful solutions to local conflicts through mediation and preparing them to avoid becoming victims of trafficking.

What is trafficking in persons?

- A crime that affects more than 20 million people worldwide, 1.8 million of them in Latin America and the Caribbean

- An underreported crime in which men, women, teenagers and children are exploited for sex and labor

- A process that begins with recruitment and ending with exploitation of the victim

- A crime that violates the human rights of its victims

- A crime that is characterized by the retention of documents, increasing debts, confinement, threats and/or emotional, psychological and physical violence

Learn more about the OAS Program of Judicial Facilitators.

Reference: E-213/15