IOM Organizes Anti-Trafficking Training in Brazil’s Pernambuco State
Argentina - The IOM Regional Office for South America, in close coordination with IOM Washington and the US Consulate General in Recife, has organized a victim assistance anti-trafficking training at the Pernambuco State Police Academy in Recife.
The two-day training was designed at the request of the local counter-trafficking taskforce and funded by the US Department of State´s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), through a cooperative agreement with IOM Washington. It was the first of two targeted trainings in Pernambuco – the second which will be held in 2015.
The goal of the training was to enhance capacity to identify and assist trafficking victims by providing technical assistance to the State Centre for Combatting Trafficking in Persons, as well as other key counter-trafficking partners, including service providers, police and prosecutors. The 25 participants were local law enforcement and service providers, and other key counter trafficking actors.
The US Consul General, Richard Reiter, was present for the opening session, together with IOM regional specialist Rosilyne Borland, who facilitated the training, and Pernambuco Executive Secretary for Social Defence Rodrigo Bastes de Freitas.
The content of the training was based on IOM and global best practice and lessons learned, including IOM´s “Direct Assistance Handbook”, its “Caring for Trafficked Persons” manual and other key resources.
Participants improved their understanding of human trafficking and practiced identifying trafficking cases. In addition to sharing best practices on victim assistance and referral systems, the event created a space for the local counter trafficking committee to discuss and analyse the current status of victim identification and assistance and to decide together on possible future action.
For more information please contact
Rosilyne Borland
IOM’s Regional Office for South America in Buenos Aires
Tel: +54 11 5219-2033/5219-2034/5219-2035
Email: BueMAD@iom.int
Analysis:
Pernambuco State is located in the northeast of Brazil. Recife is the capital. The Metropolitan Region of Recife, with nearly 4 million inhabitants, is the third most densely populated area in Brazil after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Like other popular tourist destinations around the world, Recife sees cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation. These include sexual exploitation of children.
While the global scale of human trafficking is difficult to quantify, IOM believes that as many as 800,000 people may be trafficked across international borders annually, with many more trafficked within the borders of their own countries.
Organized criminal groups earn billions of dollars in profits from trafficking and exploiting people – many of whom are victims of severe human rights violations. Trafficked persons are often victims of abuse, including rape, torture, debt bondage, unlawful confinement, and threats against their families, as well as other forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence.
Brazil continues to implement the second national plan to combat trafficking at the federal level, and efforts are underway to further strengthen national counter-trafficking legislation.