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La reunión de autoridades nacionales en materia de trata de personas es el foro político para la toma de decisiones en materia de prevención y enfrentamiento de esto delito y la asistencia y protección a las víctimas. La reunión es realizada a cada dos años bajo la presidencia rotativa de un Estado Miembro de la Organización de los Estados Americanos.

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The Meeting of National Authorities on Trafficking in Persons is the main political forum for decision-making on the prevention and prosecution of this crime as well as on the assistance and protection of its victims. The meeting takes place every two years and is presided by the country elected to be the chair.

Women and girls, who are often themselves victims of human trafficking and are sexually exploited by criminal gangs, are being prosecuted and convicted for human trafficking-related crimes, according to a new UNODC publication., Female victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation as defendants: A case law analysis

These victims often have no alternative but to obey an order. Some hope to limit their own exploitation or escape poverty by playing a role in the criminal process.

Yet at the same time, the traffickers use the women and girls as a shield to protect themselves from being punished for their crimes.

These are the findings of a new UNODC study which aims to shed light on this alarming trend. The publication highlights the complexities faced by victims of human trafficking, with a view to assist the authorities and victim support services that handle such cases.

Source: Textt by UNODC, 2020

América Latina y el Caribe enfrenta altos niveles de violencia contra niños, niñas y adolescentes. En los últimos años, ha habido un pico de violencia que afecta a los niños y niñas de manera diferenciada según su género. Muchos adolescentes son víctimas de homicidio, a menudo relacionado con actividades de pandillas y migración forzada no acompañada. Las niñas pueden ser víctimas de violencia y explotación sexual, usualmente en un contexto de trata de personas.

Las consecuencias físicas y psicológicas de dicha violencia son serias: afecta el bienestar de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, impide el cumplimiento de sus derechos y obstaculiza el desarrollo económico. Save the Children en América Latina y El Caribe trabaja para asegurar que todos los niños, niñas y adolescentes estén protegidos de todas las formas de violencia a través de la promoción y adopción de técnicas de disciplina positiva, prevención de la violencia sexual, el empoderamiento de niños y niñas para que sus voces sean escuchadas, y el fortalecimiento de los sistemas de protección.

One in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence mostly by an intimate partner. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified. This is the Shadow Pandemic growing amidst the COVID-19 crisis and we need a global collective effort to stop it. As COVID-19 cases continue to strain health services, essential services, such as domestic violence shelters and helplines, have reached capacity. More needs to be done to prioritize addressing violence against women in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. Everyone has a role to play.

**UN Women is providing up-to-date information and supporting vital programmes to fight the Shadow Pandemic of violence against women during COVID-19.

Even before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the home was a place of fear for many women and girls living in situations of violence. In Latin America, 70 percent of femicides occur in the victim’s home.

The quarantine and stay-at-home orders that governments adopted to address COVID-19 trapped many women with their abusers; evidence from early on in the pandemic reinforces the urgency of this issue. ORMUSA, or Organización de Mujeres Salvadoreña, in El Salvador reported 13 femicides in the first 6 weeks of quarantine between March 17 and April 29, 2020. In Argentina, 63 women and girls were killed because of their gender between March 20 and July 7. In the month of March 2020, 50 feminicides were recorded in just six states in Brazil. These statistics are alarming as the virus continues to spread across the Americas, raising fears that extended lockdowns will continue to exacerbate gender-based violence while governments struggle to address the twin public health crises.