Peru - Health care experts, including specialists, technicians and hospital directors, have joined IOM Peru and the Peruvian Ministry of Health to share their experience during a three-day workshop ending today in Lima. The meeting was aimed at building the capacity of frontline health care providers treating victims of human trafficking.

More than 60 participants from the Amazonas, Callao, Cajamarca, Cuzco, Loreto, Lima, Madre de Dios, Pasco, Piura, Puno, Tacna and Tumbes regions are taking part in the workshop, which is focusing on identification of victims of trafficking, as well as the provision of appropriate care and assistance.

“We are training exerts who will in turn train other colleagues working with victims of trafficking.   These women may need emergency medical care, but they are also often traumatized and require very specialized support and assistance,” explains José Iván Dávalos, IOM Chief of Mission in Peru.

Peru is a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking.  Recent studies have confirmed an increase in the number of cases of human trafficking inside the country, especially the sexual exploitation of young women and girls, often recruited through deceptive employment offers and taken to remote mining communities.

“Health care workers can come into contact with victims of trafficking and may not even know it.  This training provides the knowledge to identify a person who is being exploited and held against their will. But it also raises awareness of the special needs of this population, so that health care workers can help them to heal mentally, as well as physically,” adds Dávalos.

The workshop is part of an ongoing IOM programme that provides protection and assistance to victims of human trafficking and technical assistance to the Government of Peru to develop counter-trafficking policies, including the prosecution of traffickers.

For more information please contact

César Estrella
IOM Peru
Email: cestrella@iom.int
Tel: +51.1.633.0000 Ext. 123