The Head of the Coordination Unit Against Violence Against Women of the Government Delegation in Melilla, Laura Segura, has reaffirmed the commitment to full and effective equality between women and men, on the International Day against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Women, Girls and Children.
In the words of Segura, “this commitment implies the elimination of all forms of violence against women, girls and boys and, especially, sexual exploitation and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.” Thus, he recalled that trafficking “is a serious violation of human rights that affects thousands of people every year in our country, it is a form of slavery and it is a crime that attacks people, turning them into merchandise.”
More than 114 thousand women in prostitution
In this regard, he stressed that trafficking “is not gender-neutral”, which is that according to the 2022 report of the United Nations on Trafficking in Persons, 60% of the identified victims of this violence worldwide are women and girls. This percentage increases to 91% for victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. In Spain, according to the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime, in 2023, 97.6% of victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation are women and girls.
“Trafficking affects women disproportionately and is one of the cruellest forms of violence against women,” lamented the Head of Unit, while warning that “the business of sexual exploitation continues to expand and adapt to new realities.” One of the new realities to which he referred was 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, offered by the Ministry of Equality, concludes that in Spain there are 114,576 women in prostitution, and of them, 92,496 could be at risk of trafficking. For this reason, Segura has pointed out that currently the trafficking of women for the purpose of sexual exploitation “is acquiring worrying dimensions, due to the great benefits it provides, but, nevertheless, it is a reality that today is still hidden and invisible”.
Visibility of trafficking and penalization of pimping
The Head of the Unit has assured that to end trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation it is necessary to make it visible and to become aware of its existence in our environment. “It is necessary to improve the collection of data and show them to society, but also to show stories, putting people at the center, women at the center, because there are many speeches that legitimize trafficking,” he emphasized.
Laura Segura has recalled that the destination of the victims of trafficking is prostitution, so she has stressed the urgency of “combating pimping with the criminalization of all their faces”. “If it is not punished, it is not pointed out as a crime, nor is the exploited women recognized as victims and the patriarchal and pimp industry wins,” he stressed.
Therefore, he has stressed that the focus must be on exploiters and on the social rejection of the consumption of people and the commercialization and reification of the body of women and girls. “The Unit considers it essential to work on awareness-raising and training for detection and action in cases of trafficking and exploitation,” he said.
IV Conference on trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
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. They also have the participation of different institutions, international organizations and entities linked to the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation.
In these days, two individual presentations will be offered: “Abolitionism: the only Human Rights response”, will be offered by Ezequiel Escobar Bellshaw, Executive Director of the NGO Fiet; and “Procedural Improvements in the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking from an Abolitionist Perspective”, offered by María Gavilán, Judge of the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 3 of Arganda del Rey.
A round table “Institutional Commitment in the Fight against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation” will be developed. And a panel discussion on the “Main challenges in caring for victims of Human Trafficking and sexual exploitation.
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.
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 and exploitation, from the framework of abolitionism; but also to create a space for reflection, in which based on experience the social change and the transformation necessary for its elimination can be addressed.