The Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla has organized the IV Conference on Trafficking in Women and Girls for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation, which in this edition is entitled “Women in the Context of Prostitution. The response to a violation of Human Rights.”
A few days that will take place in the Command of the Civil Guard of Melilla on 26 and 27 September, coinciding with the commemoration of the International Day against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Women, Girls and Children (23 September), and will take place in the morning, from 9.30 am to 2 pm.
This activity is organized by the Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla, in collaboration with Fiet, 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. They also have the participation of different institutions, international organizations and entities linked to the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Structure of the Conference
In these days two individual presentations will be offered and two tables will be developed to address the reality of trafficking from different areas and where issues of interest to the different agents who in Melilla 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.
Next Thursday, September 26, the days will be inaugurated by the Lieutenant Colonel Chief of the Command of the Civil Guard of Melilla, the Superior Chief of the National Police of Melilla and the Delegate of the Government in Melilla, and presented and moderated by the Head of the Coordination Unit against Violence Against Women. The first lecture, entitled “Abolitionism: The Only Human Rights Response”, will be given by Ezequiel Escobar Bellshaw, Executive Director of the NGO Fiet. Next, the first round table of the conference will be held, “Institutional Commitment in the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
On September 27, the lecture “Procedural Improvements in the Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings from an Abolitionist Perspective” will be offered by María Gavilán, Judge of the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 3 of Arganda del Rey. Next, a panel will be developed on the “Main challenges in the care of victims of Trafficking in Human Beings and sexual exploitation”.
Prevention and performance
As explained by Laura Segura, these Days will focus on prevention and action against trafficking, sexual exploitation and prostitution of women and girls, the analysis of the demand for prostitution as the root problem of human trafficking in Spain, the abolitionist model as a response for the protection of victims against this serious violation of Human Rights, analysis of procedural improvements in the protection of victims of human trafficking from an abolitionist perspective and situations of vulnerability and risk, as well as main challenges 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 FyCSE, the Illustrious Bar Association, the Coordination Unit against Violence Against Women, the Work and Immigration Area of the Government Delegation and the Temporary Stay of Immigrants Center 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.”
“International law obliges the public authorities to combat them from a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach through preventive, punitive, assistance and reparative actions that guarantee the care, assistance, protection and recovery of their victims, from a human rights perspective that involves the whole of society as a whole, and especially the specialized organizations in the field,” he said.
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.
In addition, it has reported that in 2023, 97.6% of victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation are women and girls, according to the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime. “These overwhelming data demonstrate the unquestionable gender dimension of trafficking for sexual exploitation,” she said.
New technologies and treat
On the other hand, it has highlighted the impacts of digital technology on human trafficking. In this regard, it has revealed that the constant evolution and development of new technologies has provided innovative means to prevent and address the phenomenon of trafficking, but has also created new scenarios and sophisticated methods of capturing and controlling vulnerable victims, in addition to being able to hinder the detention of offenders. One example is the use of the Internet as a platform for the recruitment and sale of people for the purpose of sexual exploitation or for the distribution of pornographic material.
The progress of the main results of the Macrostudy on trafficking, sexual exploitation and prostitution of women: a quantitative approach, offered by the Ministry of Equality, concludes that in Spain there are 114,576 women in prostitution. More than 650,000 data from prostitution advertisement websites have been analyzed, as it is a hidden and difficult to access population, and of these, 92,496 could be at risk of trafficking. In addition, 9,000 would be at very high risk.
Hidden Reality
“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.
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 number 900105090, or put your suspicions to the attention of the National Police and the Civil Guard in one of the following places: Trafficking@policia.es, Trafficking@guardiacivil.org. You can also call 016 or use an emergency means to communicate this situation, such as the 112 emergency telephone, as this is a serious crime.