More than 100 participants are taking part this week in a new
IOM-designed on-line course to combat human trafficking.

Participants from government agencies and civil society
organizations from Argentina, Bolivia, Central America, Mexico,
Panama, Spain and Uruguay, are following the 15-week course being
held simultaneously in Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama and
led by facilitators trained by IOM last December.

Another round of on-line courses will take place in El Salvador,
Honduras and Costa Rica in the coming weeks.

The on-line course, developed by IOM in the framework of the
Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), promotes awareness raising
using human trafficking stories aimed at familiarizing the students
with the different stages of the crime and how its victims are
affected.  The course is intended to complement the training
and support provided by each country's National Counter-Trafficking
Coalition. 

"The main focus of these on-line courses is building the
capacity of government and non-government actors who work with
victims of human trafficking.  Service providers need all the
tools and knowledge to provide protection and assistance to the
victims and ensure that their human rights are respected," explains
Kattia Solis, IOM Technical Supervisor of the on-line course.

Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic are countries
of origin, transit and destination regarding human trafficking for
sexual and labour exploitation, according to a series of national
studies carried out by IOM. The studies also show this trend is
increasing.

The majority of the victims are women and young girls who are
trafficked for sexual exploitation.  The vast majority of men
who fall prey to human traffickers are victims of labour
exploitation.

This project is funded by the US State Department Bureau of
Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).

For more information, please contact:

Ana Beatriz Fernández

IOM San José

Tel.+506.2221.5348, ext. 136

E-mail: "mailto:afernandez@iom.int">afernandez@iom.int