The large and ever-increasing flow of migrants that enter Mexico
through its southern border provide a perfect breeding ground for
human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation.

More than 150 persons gathered recently in the southern border
town of Tapachula to exchange ideas and best practices and discuss
practical approaches to combating human trafficking in Mexico.

During the two-day workshop, organized by IOM and the National
Commission on Human Rights, participants from the federal, state
and municipal governments, as well as civil society organizations,
NGOs, Human Rights Commissioners from the states of Chiapas,
Veracruz and Yucatan, and consular officials from Brazil, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the United States focused, on
justice and judicial affairs, political and institutional aspects,
prevention and mass information and assistance to victims.

As a country of origin, transit and destination for human
trafficking, the total number of victims is impossible to
compile.  However, according to the UN’s Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), some 3,000
Mexican women have been trafficked to Japan for sexual
exploitation.  UNICEF also reports that each year, 20,000
Mexican children are victims of sexual exploitation while
Mexico’s National Institute for Geographical and IT
Statistics (INEGI) confirms that 99 per cent of the country’s
domestic workers are young girls and adolescents. 

In 2005, Mexico’s Family Welfare Office (DIF) assisted 270
child victims of sexual exploitation while between January and
August of that year, 1,336 cases of human trafficking were reported
to the authorities.  Of this total, 531 cases went to
trial.

For more information, please contact:

Juan Artola

IOM Mexico

Tel: 52.55) 55.36.39.22.

E-mail: "mailto:jartola@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">jartola@iom.int

A detailed report (in Spanish) on the recent counter trafficking
workshop can be found on the IOM Website "paragraph-link-underlined" href="http://www.iom.int" target=
"_blank" title="">www.iom.int