Peru - With the slogan, Peru United Against Human Trafficking and the Sexual Exploitation of Boys, Girls and Adolescents, IOM this week launched an information campaign designed to raise awareness and combat these crimes.

IOM Peru, in close coordination with the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, the Ministry of Tourism and Foreign Commerce, and the National Superintendence for Migration, is bringing the message to all travelers using the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima.

To address the dearth of information on human trafficking, IOM, working with the Public Ministry (Attorney General’s Office) has designed a database (SISTRA by its Spanish acronym) where information on human trafficking charges and court cases is entered, catalogued, updated and shared with relevant authorities.

IOM also provides direct assistance to victims of trafficking. So far this year the office has helped to reunite six people trafficked to the United States with their families.  IOM's assistance included support for family members in Peru to obtain a visas and payment of airfares.

“Trainings to build the capacity of officials are also an integral part of our work to combat human trafficking.  In 2012, with funding from the Canadian Government, IOM provided training to 80 officials, including judges, prosecutors and police on Peru’s anti-trafficking law,” said José Iván Dávalos, IOM Chief of Mission in Peru.

The campaign’s messages, which will be prominently displayed throughout the airport for an initial three-month period, insist on the zero tolerance approach adopted by the Peruvian Government against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors.

“For more than a decade IOM Peru has been working with its partners to raise awareness and combat human trafficking, while providing assistance to victims. The first phase of the new campaign, which will target passengers using the busiest airport in the country, is another concerted effort with our partners to continue the fight against human trafficking,” added Dávalos.

The first phase of the campaign is funded by the IOM Mission in Peru.  Contingent on the availability of funds, it will be expanded to include other airports and other transportation hubs along the border and in major tourist areas.

Peru is a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking with a predominance of internal trafficking of women for sexual exploitation.  Children and men are trafficked to work in the mining and logging industries, and agriculture.   There are also high rates of human trafficking for domestic labor.   At the international level, there have been cases of Peruvian women taken to Argentina, Japan, Spain and other countries for sexual exploitation.

For more information, please contact:

Carolina Santos
IOM Peru
Email: casantos@iom.int
Tel: + 511.221.7209 / C: 511.968.216.777