The coast guard rescued 11 women who were victims of people trafficking this weekend in the southern province of Tierra del Fuego.
An investigation by the intelligence unit led to the release of six Argentine, three Paraguayan, and two Dominican women in a dwelling in Río Grande. Officers on the scene discovered 23g of cocaine and 800g of marijuana.
They also arrested a 30-year-old Argentine woman for her involvement in the human trafficking case.
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The victims rescued this weekend were assisted by psychologists from a program specifically for people affected by human trafficking.
According to the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Department of State, Argentina is a destination for trafficking, as well as a source and a transit hub. Though it has laws against human trafficking, it can be difficult to prove the exploitation occurred, so many perpetrators go free. Despite this, the country is making efforts to improve and is among the largest contributors to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes’ database on human trafficking.
Recently, the case of Marita Verón, an Argentine woman who was kidnapped from her home and then disappeared, grabbed international headlines when her case went to court. Experts suspect she was taken by human traffickers and forced into prostitution. Verón is a symbol of the fight to end human trafficking because of her mother’s efforts to find her daughter.
The post Tierra del Fuego: Victims of People Trafficking Rescued appeared first on The Argentina Independent.
