The Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla has organized the III Conference on Trafficking in Women and Girls for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation, which in this edition is entitled, “New realities in the integral approach to the fight against trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation”.
A few days that will take place in Room 10 of the UNED on Monday and Tuesday of next week, 18 and 19 September, coinciding with the commemoration of the International Day against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Women, Girls and Children and will take place from 9.30 to 13.30 hours.
This activity is organized by the Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla, in collaboration with Fiet Gratia, an organization specialized in human trafficking and sexual exploitation, whose main objective is to create opportunities for integral development for the most disadvantaged people who incur in situations of vulnerability. In turn, there will be the participation of different institutions, international organizations and entities linked to the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation.
A conference in which two individual presentations will be offered and three tables will be developed to address the reality of trafficking from different areas and where issues of interest to the different agents of Melilla who fight against this serious violation of Human Rights will be addressed, also deepening the local reality and generating times of exchange with the attendees in which to resolve doubts and establish alliances for collaboration.
Structure of the Conference
These days will be inaugurated by the Delegate of the Government in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, and presented and moderated by the Head of the Coordination Unit against Violence Against Women, Laura Segura, and will begin with a first paper entitled “Incidence of New Technologies in Trafficking and Prostitution” that will be offered by the Professor of Research Methods at the University of the Balearic Islands, Lluis Ballester Brage.
Then there will be the first table of the Conference that will deal with the “situation of unaccompanied minors and accompanied minors in the city of Melilla”.
Regarding the 19th, the presentation ‘Trafficking and sexual exploitation: multidisciplinary approach and cooperation’ will be given by Vocal Adviser in the Technical Cabinet of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Miriam Benterrak Ayensa.
They will then develop a second round table on the “Reality of women in prostitution in Melilla” and a third round table on “Legal protection for victims of Trafficking in Human Beings and prostituted women”.
Prevention and performance
As Segura has explained, these Days will focus on prevention and action against trafficking and sexual exploitation of girls and boys, the analysis of the demand for prostitution as the root problem of human trafficking in Spain, evolution of the Spanish legal treatment to Trafficking in Human Beings and sexual exploitation and situations of vulnerability and risk of social exclusion from the experience of International Institutions, Entities and Organizations.
In this sense, the organizations that provide care to women and minors in the context of sexual exploitation, as well as the specialized units in the investigation of the crimes of trafficking of the State Security Forces and Bodies, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Bar Association, the Coordination Unit against Violence Against Women and the Work and Immigration Area of the Government Delegation will offer their vision from each of their areas of work in the city.
Segura recalled that trafficking “is a serious violation of human rights that affects thousands of people every year in our country and is a crime that attacks people, a form of slavery that turns human beings into a simple commodity.”
In fact, he explained that, according to the United Nations 2022 report on Trafficking in Persons, 60% of the identified victims of this violence are women and girls. This percentage increases to 91% for victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Reflection space
“Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a reality, which has remained hidden and violates the dignity of the person, his freedom and equality and is one of the cruellest forms of violence against women,” he said.
“We cannot fail to remember that the fate of victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is prostitution,” he said. Therefore, he added, the demand for prostitution is identified as one of the main causes of this serious attack on human rights. And society’s rejection of the consumption of people and the commercialization and reification of the body of women and girls is fundamental for its eradication.
In the words of the Head of the Unit, today, “trafficking and sexual exploitation continue to spread, Spain being a space of transit, destination, capture and exploitation.” Therefore, the Unit considers it essential to work on awareness-raising and training for detection and action in cases of trafficking.
Therefore, one of the main objectives of this Conference is to provide training to the people and institutions involved in the fight against this crime and promote actions that improve the identification, protection and care and recovery of women who may be victims of trafficking, but also “create a space for reflection, in which based on experience the social change and the transformation necessary for its elimination can be addressed,” he said.
Serious crime
Segura has stressed that progress continues to be made in the fight against this violence and, therefore, the Government Delegation against Gender Violence has promoted resources such as the administrative accreditation of the status of victim of trafficking and the protocol of action of the GReVIA group for cases of sexual exploitation of children or adolescents.
As he has explained, the administrative accreditation of the status of victim of trafficking allows access to the rights of information and referral to assistance resources and does not require the filing of a complaint or the willingness of the victim to collaborate with the judicial investigation.
“We know that trafficking is, in many cases, sexual exploitation of children and adolescents,” he said. To combat it, he said, “the GReVIA group has developed a protocol of action whose objective is to provide a comprehensive tool to prevent, detect, communicate and intervene in these cases.”
Finally, Segura has stressed that if you are being trafficked or sexually exploited or if you believe that a woman or girl is being trafficked or sexually exploited, you should notify the authorities as soon as possible.
To do this you can call the toll-free telephone number 900105090, or inform the National Police and the Civil Guard either through the mail treats@policia.es or treats@guardiacivil.org by calling 016 or the emergency telephone 112.