Bogota – As part of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, IOM, the UN Migration Agency and Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday (31/7) presented the results of Ante la trata no se haga (In the Face of Trafficking, Don’t Pretend), the fifth phase of a prevention campaign against the crime of human trafficking.

The initiative was made up of a series of play-based, educational activities that target people ages 15 to 35 from four municipalities on the Colombian border (San Miguel in Putumayo state, Maicao in La Guajira state, Leticia in Amazonas state, and Tumaco in Nariño state). These municipalities run the risk of trafficking because of their geographic location.

Ante la trata no se haga seeks to increase awareness and provide collective support and prevention tools to communities. The activities carried out explained to communities how trafficking works, how it affects people’s lives, and how it can be avoided. At the end of the sessions, participants wrote their personal commitment to not be indifferent to human trafficking on a piece of tape. Then, all of the pieces of tape were put together to make a huge red banner against human trafficking.

According to statistics from the Government of Colombia, between 2014 and 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended to 258 cases of human trafficking at its consulates abroad. Of the total number of people attended, 81 per cent of victims were women (208 cases) and 19 percent were men (50 cases). It is important to note that the most frequent type of exploitation in the last five years was sexual exploitation with 160 cases (63 per cent), followed by labor exploitation with 73 cases (29 per cent), and servile marriage with 20 cases (8 per cent).

Additionally, it was found that in the last several years, the main destination countries of Colombian trafficking victims abroad have been: China, with 19.4 per cent of cases; Argentina, 15.9 per cent; Mexico, 9.7 per cent; Ecuador, 7.0 per cent; Peru, 5.8 per cent and the Dominican Republic, 4.6 per cent. In recent years, the main Colombian departments of origin for trafficking victims attended have been: Valle del Cauca, Antioquia, Risaralda, Cundinamarca, and Caldas.

María Ángela Holguín, Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that the Ministry is directly confronting the scourge that is human trafficking. She said: “We want to work in the souls and the hearts of the people…Every one of us can act to stop the third most lucrative crime in the world after drug trafficking and arms trafficking.”

Alejandro Guidi, IOM Colombia Chief of Mission, said: “We have all come together to show that in Colombia it is possible to continue weaving a network against human trafficking, gathering the messages from these pieces of tape and actions by hundreds of Colombians who have added their own commitment against this crime.” He added: “This crime does not differentiate by race, gender, age, or socioeconomic level.”

Since 2014, IOM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have carried out an annual campaign inside and outside of the country to fight against human trafficking and ensure that every day fewer Colombians are victims of this crime. This is how, through the initiative’s five phases, Colombia has been able to raise citizens’ awareness of this crime and ability to recognize risk factors.

If you know about a case of human trafficking, you can report it at any Colombian consulate, by video call or chat at the website www.cancilleria.gov.co, by writing to the email address asistencias@cancilleria.gov.co, or at free national attention hotlines 18000979899 and 01800093800.

For further information, please contact Karen Mora at IOM Colombia, Tel. + (57) 1 639 7777, Email: kmora@iom.int