This project aims to contribute to prevention of trafficking in persons, improved prosecution of this crime, and the protection of victims, in Ecuador. The project includes activities at two levels:
First, at the national level, the project aims to support the Ministry of the Interior in the development of municipal educational products about trafficking in persons to be used within grade schools and high schools to raise awareness. At the same time, also at the national level, the project will build capacity among judges, with a special emphasis on the human rights of trafficked persons.
Second, at the local level, the project will focus on the provinces of Guayas and Manabí, the second and third most populated provinces in Ecuador. Previous studies have identified the need for focused counter-trafficking work in these geographical regions. The project will include two studies on trafficking in each province, to characterize the crime in that context, and to analyze the response of public and private actors, in order to provide inputs to strengthen the current and future counter-trafficking response.
Finally, this project will support five municipalities including Lago Agrio, Santo Domingo, Ibarra, Otavalo, and Cotachi. These activities will support the ongoing process to approve the newly developed local counter-trafficking ordinances in each municipality, as well as to identify good practices that could be replicated in other parts of Ecuador.