Mexico - IOM Mexico and Mexico’s System for Integral Family Development (DIF by its Spanish acronym) of Puerto Vallarta, in Jalisco State, have signed an agreement to develop a Situational Analysis of Human Trafficking for Sexual and Labor Exploitation in Puerto Vallarta.

At the signing ceremony, the IOM Chief of Mission in Mexico, Dr. Thomas Lothar Weiss, said that the analysis will provide reliable and accurate data on the real needs and challenges faced by the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta.  

“This information will help strengthen institutional capacities to combat human trafficking and to assist its victims in the city of Puerto Vallarta.  But we are confident that this initiative will also help raise awareness, and will lead to new strategies to prevent and eliminate this crime,” said Weiss.

The Municipality of Puerto Vallarta is considered the second tourist destination in the State of Jalisco and one of the top ten in Mexico.  According to Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its Spanish acronym) a total of 1,201,078 tourists visited Puerto Vallarta in 2010.  The following year, the Ministry of Tourism reported a 15 per cent increase in tourism for the Municipality.

The 2013 U S State Department Report on Trafficking in Persons identified the presence of trafficked people for sex tourism in the Mexican resorts of Acapulco, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, and also noted a lack of data on victims and established procedures to identify them.

IOM Mexico has published various studies of the problem, collaborating with public institutions to formulate strategies and mechanisms to combat human trafficking in the municipalities of Tapachula/Chiapas and Ciudad Juárez/Chihuahua.  Working with state and local authorities, IOM Mexico has also published reports and analyses about local trafficking in persons on the southern border.

“From these previous research exercises, we have learned that when local governments take the initiative to meet and address the situation, it is the first step to eliminate this modern form of slavery,” said Weiss.

IOM’s knowledge of victim experiences, and the challenges and obstacles to providing assistance, care and protection, also led it to organize capacity building workshops targeting government officials.

IOM Mexico began its program to combat trafficking in persons in 2005, and the information derived from multiple projects has helped it to become a leader in the field. This includes the documentation and analysis of the problem; the creation of mechanisms for interagency cooperation; direct assistance to victims; and capacity building for public sector employees and civil society.

IOM’s program has created cooperation networks among various government agencies at the federal and local levels, as well as civil society associations, to identify and provide direct assistance to victims.

The program provides safe, voluntary return home and promotes reintegration activities in coordination with IOM offices in countries of origin.  Since the program began, IOM Mexico has identified and/or assisted 178 victims, the vast majority of them from Guatemala.

In coordination with the IOM office in Washington, IOM Mexico also supports family reunification of Mexican nationals who have been identified as victims of trafficking in the United States, either through their return and reintegration to the country, or by managing documents and transfer of family members to the United States.

For more information, please contact

Itzel Vivaldo
IOM Mexico
Email: ivivaldo@iom.int
Tel: +52 55 55 36 39 22.