Peru - Students in the remote Madre de Dios region of Peru are this week participating in the first theater competition to raise awareness about human trafficking.

IOM and the Regional Education Directorate (DRE by its Spanish acronym) are providing support to 72 students from six schools of the city of Puerto Maldonado as they prepare for two days of theater productions aimed at raising awareness and combating human trafficking.

Each participating school will present its own production of La Pesadilla de Lita (Lita’s Nightmare), a story created by IOM as a teaching tool for educators and others involved in counter-trafficking awareness activities with children, adolescents and young adults.

Each rendition was produced and directed by teachers who had previously participated in the IOM/DRE program designed to strengthen the capacity of educators in the Madre de Dios Region to combat human trafficking. The six presentations are expected to reach some 5,000 persons, including children and their parents, as well as teachers and other school staff.

“Our idea for hosting this competition was to engage students to learn more about this crime, but also to bring this information to a wider audience that may not be aware that human trafficking is taking place in Madre de Dios. We want everyone to be vigilant and to know that they should take any information about incidences of human trafficking to the authorities,” explained José Ivan Dávalos, IOM Chief of Mission in Peru.

In the past few years the Madre de Dios region has experienced a dramatic increase in internal migration; it is estimated that some 40,000 persons have migrated to the area to take part in illegal gold mining activities. These illegal activities have also increased the prevalence of human trafficking, especially amongst children and adolescents, who are used as forced labourers or sex workers.

The shows will be held at the National Amazon University of Madre de Dios Amphitheater on 14 and 15 May at 2:30 pm. 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm. The winners will be announced after the final performance.

For more information, please contact

César Estrella
IOM Peru
Email: cestrella@iom.int
Tel: + 51.1 633 0000 Ext. 123