IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Acciones Coordinadas Contra la Trata de Personas (ACCT).

The NGO ACCT (Coordinated Action Against Human Trafficking) was founded in 2012 in order to investigate, document, and fight the crime of human trafficking – with special emphasis on the sexual exploitation of young girls, adolescents, and women.

Image courtesy of ACCT

According to the group, every year, around six million people are victims of human trafficking, and of those, 90% are sexually exploited. In Argentina, women and children with low levels of education, from large families, and who lack basic necessities (food, shelter etc) are amongst those most at risk.

The organisation is made up of dedicated professionals who have a wealth of experience in the investigation of human trafficking crimes and money laundering linked to organised crime. Beyond the critical task of locating the victims of human trafficking, the organisation also aims to halt the illicit flow of cash used to fund the crimes in the first place and which allow human trafficking networks to continue to operate.

ACCT’s methodology begins with the idea that there is no one-way of investigating these crimes, rather that each case provides them with alternative ways of working and of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

They treat each crime on a case-by-case basis, meaning that each one receives focused, and specially adapted, assistance that is subject to flexible protocol.

ACCT, which aims to fight these human rights abuses, is an independent NGO that is in desperate need of funds in order to continue to implement its projects, both at a national level as well as an international one.

Raising 100% of the funds would of course be amazing, but failing that you can be sure that your contribution will not go to waste. If the 100% target is not met, the funds will be put to the following uses:

1. 10% achieved = Creation of a complaints hotline open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

2. 25% achieved = Purchasing of IT equipment required to develop their investigative work.

3. 50% achieved = Publishing promotional material as regards the prevention of human trafficking of young children and adolescents.

4. 75% achieved = As well as all of the above, they will launch campaigns to raise the profile, awareness, and visibility of the problem throughout the country and to create a database of related statistics.

To find out more about the project or donate, click here.

The sex industry is not only one of the most controversial in the world, and one of the most profitable, but also one of the most enigmatic in terms of the legal and ideological debates that surround it. Prostitution -whether considered legal or illegal, moral or immoral, legitimate or illegitimate (or any combination of these)- is present in virtually all countries and in all societies. It has existed as a political, social, and governmental issue, arguably, since the beginning of civilisation and continues to pose poignant questions.

Protest at Plaza de Mayo on International Women’s Day against human trafficking and prostitution. (Photo: Avery Kelly)

The international community has adopted different approaches for addressing prostitution at the state level, influenced heavily by the ideologies of its respective cultures and related interpretations of gender issues, and of sex work in particular. Governments develop these postures -prohibition, abolition, regulation, or total decriminalisation- as formal benchmark ideologies so that corresponding legislation and implementation might follow accordingly.

Argentina is officially an ‘abolitionist’ country. Although prostitutes are not persecuted, under this heading, the driving factors that promote and sustain the sex industry should be addressed via public policy, so that one day they will be eradicated. The stance is based on the fundamental vision that prostitution should not have to exist as a means for survival, but those who work in the industry within the current cultural context should be free to work as they please.

Thus, individual prostitution is legal in Argentina, while any sort of prostitución ajena, or external prostitution is illegal, i.e. prostitution via pimping and/or in brothels. Ideally, legislation drafted by abolitionist countries should allow for investigation and oversight of the industry to ensure that only voluntary prostitution exists.

As a nationally dictated benchmark, the abolitionist stance leaves most technical interpretation (and subsequent legislation and application) to the discretion of the Argentine provinces, whose cultures and political stances vary.

Renowned activist Lohana Berkins explains that in the debate concerning prostitution in Argentina, “there are three stances: regulation, prohibition, and abolition,” with the most vehement arguments heard from the first two groups. Though they differ in response to the question of prostitution as a legitimate form of work and other ideological issues, all agree there is much to be done both socially and politically with respect to the matter and that practical implementation of legal measures must be improved.

The Regulation Position

Main idea: According to the regulation stance, individual and elected prostitution should be legal, regulated with state policies, and formally recognised as a legitimate form of work. Within the current abolitionist context, advocates of regulation call for an end to the discrimination and prejudices that leave sex workers vulnerable and without the state protection and rights allotted to all other workers (ie. healthcare, political acceptance, governmental recognition of unions, etc.). Though they recognise the sex industry’s link with forced prostitution and cooperate with efforts to abolish such networks, they assert that not all sex workers are victims of trafficking, and that prostitution is, in fact, a legitimate and acceptable choice for some individuals. They believe that chosen sex work can, and should, be extricated from forced prostitution and that the regulation and recognition of individual prostitution would facilitate that process.

Main public representative: Association of Women Sex Workers in Argentina in Action for Our Rights (AMMAR).

AMMAR was founded in 1994 and joined the Argentine Workers’ Union (CTA) organisation a year later, deciding that this would be the only logical way to gain the rights and responsibilities of all other workers in the country. According to their website, “AMMAR is a trade union formed by sex workers in Argentina to fight against the violations of our rights to health, work, education, documentation, and housing.”

AAMAR Protesting in Buenos Aires

More than anything, they “fight fundamentally for the freedom to work”. The group explains, “We believe that it is necessary to attain the dignified conditions needed to do our work and in this way to break out of clandestine (situations) that constantly endanger us. For this reason we organised ourselves into a union.”

As it sees sex work as a valid profession, AMMAR requests that the same treatment given to other workers be applied to prostitutes, including conceeding the right to retirement pensions. It campaigns for an end to social and legal discrimination against them and asserts that moralising about what is suitable or not for women to do is not acceptable grounds for denying them acknowledgement and acceptance.

The Abolition Side

Main idea: The abolitionist stance is the most widely accepted in regards to prostitution within Argentina and is aligned with the government’s official standpoint. This group, which is itself divided into micro-sectors, fundamentally differs from the regulatory one in that while it accepts that willing prostitutes should remain free from government persecution, it does not recognise prostitution as a legitimate form of work and opposes government recognition of it as a reasonable profession. At the same time, most abolitionists are in favour of the creation of public policies that allow sex workers to live and work in peace. However, abolitionists believe that the population of willing sex workers, one uninfluenced by any economic or personal factors is minuscule, and that recognising the activity as a job would be detrimental to trafficking victims and others obligated to work in the industry. 

Public spokespeople: Among others, the transgendered community and anti-trafficking groups.

Berkins explains that as a trans activist, the official recognition of prostitution as work “is the one thing we oppose completely… this is an inflexible point.”

Lohana Berkins speaks out against prostitution. (Photo: Avery Kelly)

For her, the regulatory stance poses grave implications for the transgendered community that is often obligated to engage in sex work for lack of other job opportunities. “Because for transgendered people, (prostitution) is imposed on us by the state (…) For us it’s not a choice -we’re abolitionists. We want the government to recognise this, first with (the acknowledgement of) our own identities (within the industry) and also by generating clear public policies.”

The strong connection of prostitution with human trafficking also pushes forth the abolitionist cause. Proponents emphasise the abolitionist call for social and cultural changes to wipe out the sex industry entirely. They see forced prostitution as the main component of the sex industry that is only supplemented by willing sex workers.

Viviana Caminos (Photo: Terra Borody)

Viviana Caminos, director of the National Network Against Human Trafficking (RATT Argentina) describes what she sees as an inextricable link between prostitution and sex slavery: the basic economics of the industry.

“I ask, ‘how can we divide human trafficking from prostitution?’ It’s practically impossible! (…) Human trafficking exists because there is demand for women’s bodies for prostitution (…) it has to do with capitalism, the more you have to offer and the less you spend, the more you make. So this is what happens, instead of keeping the 50, 60, or 70% of profits that pimps keep from prostitutes they rent out, they (traffickers) decide to go with 100% of the profit. So they enslave girls -they deceive them and they get those bodies for free, which they can use for the period of time that they want until they are no longer useful.”

Caminos believes there is a very small percentage of sex workers who join the industry by their own impartial decision, those called in Argentina ‘VIP’ or ‘la elite’. “That fantasy that people prostitute themselves to pay for their studies or something (…) it could actually happen, but it’s an extremely small statistic.”

As an abolitionist, Caminos furthered that her organisation does not consider prostitutes as having a real occupational choice, but rather a culturally dictated and available option.

Somewhere in Between

Main idea: A true mixture of abolitionism with hints of regulation and maybe even prohibition. This stance is based upon the idea that lawmakers are unequipped to draft legislation, or even form legitimate stances on these issues, without listening to sex workers themselves. They are strongly against the sexual exploitation of women, especially that of forced sex work, but hold that laws should reflect the reality of society and be suited for the people who live and work in situations of prostitution. 

Public spokespeople: Among others, CTA.

According to Alejandra Angriman, Secretary of Gender for CTA, “We have different opinions within CTA… we’re not all in favour nor totally against prostitution -there’s no uniformity on the issue nor one united line of thought. What we oppose is the sexual exploitation of women, and what matters to us are the opinions of those people who work in (…) this industry.”

CTA officially accepts the federal stance as abolitionist and respects “the right of the provinces in deciding how to interpret and implement national rulings at the local level,” acknowledging the differences in cultures and positions that produce inconsistencies with respect to prostitution across the country. 

Calls for Changes in the Future

The main arguments comprising the prostitution debate in Argentina call for changes in the country, specifically addressing public policy issues and the application of the law.

According to AMMA leader Jorgelina Sosa, although the country has eloquent legislation in place, “in reality there is no political willingness to fulfil it or see it carried out (…) we keep making laws and decrees but always pre-judge the worker.”

Berkins agrees that the ignorance of the opinions of different types of sex workers is a key point to overcome. She believes that it is time for a “serious and profound debate” by the “victims of prostitution” concerning “what is the process, what is the system really like” so that the workers themselves have a voice in the debate.

According to Caminos, there are two main tasks at hand: the implementation of public policies that accompany abolitionist laws and a reform of the justice system. She said, “We need public policies, for example, the creation of more jobs, but this is not just a national issue. The provinces have to start thinking about implementing public policies. I also support the reform of the justice system -we have a misogynistic and classist system. We have seen the sentencing after the trial of Marita Veron. There is impunity in this and other cases of violence (…) that have never come to justice.”

Although debates centre on the legitimacy of prostitution as a profession and how to oversee the sex industry within the abolitionist state of Argentina, all sides seem to agree on various key points regarding the politics of prostitution -especially on the call for more discussion. The debate is well and truly alive.

Susana Trimarco, mother of Marita Verón, met with the president yesterday in the Casa Rosada to discuss details of reforming the human trafficking law. Discussion about the law’s reform will begin today in the Lower House.

Trimarco told reporters that the president and Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina are committed to advancing with the impeachment of the second division of the criminal chamber in Tucumán. The president said, “We have to remove those people who do not belong there once and for all,” according to Trimarco.

The meeting took place just one week after all 13 accused in the Marita Verón case were declared innocent.

Carlos Varela, one of Trimarco’s lawyers, said this week is critical for the case. “The five lawyers who have been working on the case will meet in Buenos Aires with the Foundation (María de los Angeles Verón) and agree to appeal,” he said.

According to Varela, the group has three possible options: appeal to the Court of Justice of Tucumán, the national Supreme Court or the American Court of Human Rights. Trimarco already announced her decision to proceed with demands for the dismissal of three judges, or “hoodlums” as she called them, to the provincial legislature.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner came out strongly against the Argentine Justice system after the ruling that acquitted all the suspects accused of human trafficking.

“Last night something very ugly happened. There is a divorce between society and justice, I couldn’t believe it when I was told,” said Fernández in a public speech this afternoon at the inauguration of a medicine production plant.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

“We are going to initiate a democratisation of the Judicial Power. Humbly, I believe the time has come for each of the States powers to take care of the things that are happening. I pledge to start a democratisation of the Judiciary,” she added.

Already in conflict with certain judicial decisions taken in recent weeks, namely the extension of the injunction in the Clarín case, and the rejection of the “per saltum” mechanism by the Supreme Court, Fernández continued attacking the judicial branch questioning, “what other office is guaranteed for life?” Seemingly paving the way to what might become a drastic reform of that branch of government. She also stated “when there is money involved no matter how much noise you make they just don’t care”.

Also today the Supreme Court reacted to the news of the Marita Verón verdict by releasing a statement that called on judges to do their best to fight human trafficking.

“Following the events that took place today that are known by the public, the National Supreme Court, as holder of one of the three powers of the State, makes clear that the fight against human trafficking and the protection of victims of gender violence is a very clear and important institutional decision,” read the statement.

Although it made no direct reference to the actual case of Marita Verón, the statement also called on “all the judges in the country to keep maintaining their maximum efforts to end this crime”.

The Supreme Court could eventually be called to rule on the Marita Verón case if it is appealed.

The Criminal Court of Tucumán ruled last night that all 13 people held on human trafficking charges in relation to the disappearance of Maria de los Ángeles “Marita” Verón were found not guilty.

The lawyers building the case against them were confident that the presumed leaders of the group would get the 25-year prison sentence they had asked the court for.

Those accused were seven men and six women. María Jesús Rivero, and her brother Víctor Rivero were accused respectively of masterminding the kidnapping and carrying it out. Daniela Milhein was accused of holding Verón captive in Tucumán. Irma “Liliana” Medina, is known as the owner of the largest brothels in the La Rioja province and was accused of participating in the kidnapping and trafficking of Verón. Medina’s sons, Alejandro González, José Fernando Gómez, and Gonzalo Gómez were held on similar charges while González is also accused of having sexual relations with Verón and even having a child with her.

Other people accused include a policeman, Domingo Andrada, with links to human trafficking and another five accomplices, Humberto Derobertis, Paola Gaitán, Mariana Bustos, Carlos Luna, and Azucena Márquez.

The court’s decision was not explained further than the announcement that there was “not enough evidence to prove their culpability”. The details of the verdict will only be publicly revealed next Tuesday at 10am.

Verón disappeared on 3rd April 2002 and has been reported being spotted by sex workers in prostitution rings in several locations in the country, including La Rioja, Tucumán and Córdoba.

The secretary of the criminal court, Norma Díaz Volachec was nearly in tears at the moment of reading the verdict, reflecting the emotion that took over the courtroom.

“Sincerely when I saw that all of them started crying, I was moved,” explained Díaz Volachec.

The emotion and outrage caused by the non-guilty verdict delivered in the courtroom spread throughout the country. The public awareness of the case is partly explained by the role Susana Trimarco, the mother of Verón, has played in the investigation and fight for justice in general. Going as far as posing as a sex worker to try to find her daughter, Trimarco has emerged as an example of courage and perseverance in her ten-year search.

Reactions

Susan Trimarca and her daughter with a picture of Marita Veron (casoveron.org)

“I support Alperovich but the security in this province is shameful, as is the Justice system,” said Trimarco in a television interview.

Among those accused of not doing enough to solve the problem of human trafficking in the province is Governor José Alperovich.

Trimarco said that President Fernández had called her personally and was extremely angry and “screaming” over the phone, telling the mother to “count on me, I can’t believe what they have done to you”. Trimarco was also approached by the United States ambassador to Argentina to tell her the first lady, Michelle Obama, was concerned with the decision and “wanted to meet and support her”. The hacker and activist group Anonymous also echoed their disbelief and published the names of the judges and their personal data, including phone numbers, addresses and bank accounts.

“The Zero Brothel law is a disgrace, all the brothels are still open, I won’t give up. I will give my life for this not to remain as it is,” added Trimarco. It has been reported that she is considering a legal process to impeach the judges that ruled in the case.

“We were waiting for a different result but we have to be very careful because for me things get mixed up. I have alongside Susana [Trimarco] for a long time now. The fact of outlawing brothels doesn’t mean they disappear,” said Beatriz Rojkés de Alperovich, senator for the province of Tucumán and wife of governor Alperovich.

Certain sectors of the press have accused Rojkés de Alperovich of not doing enough in the fight against prostitution and have even accused her of protecting some of the traffickers, accusations she has vehemently denied.

In Tucumán we are concerned with what happened. I can’t attend the press, I try not to talk because I feel persecuted. We are very sad, it has hit us hard. If someone has to be held responsible within the Judicial system it will happen,” she said.

“I know about the accusations about the lack of judicial independence in Tucumán. Some people dedicate themselves only to leveling accusations and others to try to change the province. We are in the second group,” she added.

Solidarity marches and protests have been called for across the country, in Buenos Aires the Classist and Combative Current (CCC) will meet at 9 de Julio and march to the Casa de la Provincia de Tucumán (Suipacha 140) where several organisations are scheduled to meet in the afternoon. In a statement the CCC said the event will “denounce the closeness of the political and judicial powers in that province and the entire country with the human trafficking rings.

Timeline of the “Marita” Verón case:

3 April 2002: Verón leaves her home in Tucumán for a medical check-up, an eye-witness says she is kidnapped by people getting out of a red car.

6 April 2002: Police in La Ramada, thirty kilometers from Verón’s home, find her apparently escaping from a “sexual party”, using high-heel shoes that she was not wearing at the time of her kidnapping. They put her on a bus to Tucumán and this is the last time she is seen.

26 October 2003: Alejandro “Chenga” Gómez is detained and accused of kidnapping Verón.

2004: Judge Adriana Reynoso closes the investigation.

21 July 2008: The Supreme Court reopens the case and announces it will take 13 people to court.

September 2009: The legal process is initiated to bring the 13 accused to court.

8 February 2012: The trial starts.

11 December 2012: The court clears all 13 suspects of all charges.

18 December 2012: The details of the ruling will be made public at 10am.

Last weekend, an estimated 25,000 women descended upon the northern city of Posadas, in Misiones province. The sweltering heat was not enough to stop this yearly ritual, which has taken place every October since 1986: the National Women’s Encounter.

Women gather at the Encounter in Misiones. (Photo: Daniela Andreassi)

The first Encounter took place in Buenos Aires, and it has been moving to a different city every year. Based on a premise of democracy and horizontal organisation, its aim is to provide a pluralist space to debate issues that are specific to women and the feminist movement.

As debates develop and move forward in society, each year different topics become the banners of the Encounter. This year, the main issues under discussion were the legalisation of abortion and the problems of gender violence and human trafficking.

They were not, however, the only subjects broached. Around 200 workshops were carried out simultaneously in different schools throughout the city, with topics as varied as sexuality, feminism, identity, family, disabilities, health, addictions, prostitution, unionism, indigenous women, politics, human rights, education, sports, art, youth, foreign debt, etc.

The format of the Encounter is repeated year after year. As it takes place on the long weekend of October, the activities are spread throughout three days. On the first day, after the opening event, the workshops are carried out. They are not conceived as experts’ panels, but as truly open spaces for debate where everyone can have a say.

(Photo: Daniela Andreassi)

According to the organisers, “the workshops are the heart of the Encounters, they break with the usual structures where only some have the word and the others listen in silence, everyone participates. These workshops are sovereign, the discussions and the conclusions belong only to the women who take part in them.”

On the second day, the workshops are finalised and a traditional march is held in the centre of the host city. Unlike previous years, when the marching women were abused and attacked by religious groups, Posadas welcomed the Encounter with a mix of curiosity and indifference. There were also none of the usual conflicts during the workshops -especially those that discuss the issue of abortion- which ‘pro-life’ and anti-feminist groups have typically attempted to interrupt.

The day finishes off with a big party, in the form of a peña with music, dance, and theatre. This year’s big surprise was a performance by famous singer and musician León Gieco, who said he was there “to representthe many men who support [the women’s'] struggle.”

The third day sees the women off after a closing event in which the conclusions from all the workshops are read out, and the city for the next Encounter is chosen by way of applause. Next year, the 28th Encounter will take place in San Juan, a province deeply involved with one of the issues at the forefront of the agenda in Posadas: ‘mega-mining’. The organisation for next year’s event began as soon as this one finished.

Women gathered in the square (Photo: Daniela Andreassi)

As well as the scheduled activities, such as the workshops and the march, there is a lot of spontaneous activity on the fringes of the event. The streets and parks fill up with women who organise different activities like open radios, debates, and concerts. Whilst all the Encounters take place in Argentine cities, they attract an important number of women for other Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile.

Mónica Tarducci is an anthropologist, a feminist, and one of the founders of the Women’s Encounters. In a recent interview with Página 12 newspaper, Tarducci recalled how the experience of the Feminist Encounters of Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1980s were an inspiration to start something similar in Argentina.

The current Encounters, however, are unique, she says. “There’s nothing like it in the world. In fact, from outside the country it’s seen with curiosity and admiration, the fact that so many women meet up once a year to talk about the problems affecting them.” What makes the Encounters unique, according to Tarducci, is the number and diversity of women who take part, as well as the participative dynamics of the workshops and the impact the experience has on the participants.

Underwear on the wall (Photo: Daniela Andreassi)

This year’s balance is positive. As part of their conclusions, the organisers pointed out the importance of the many different issues discussed and brought to light over the weekend: human trafficking, declaration of a national emergency due to sexual and domestic violence, the “triple slogan” campaign (“sexual education to decide, contraception to avoid abortion, legal abortion to avoid dying”), the rejection of the construction of mega-dams, and the defence of the rights of the earth.

Posadas will be reminded of this extraordinary weekend by the graffiti left behind on walls and windows. “We give birth, we decide”, “I aborted, your mum too”, “No means no”, “Take your rosaries off our ovaries”. As the paint fades away and the city goes back to its quiet routine, the women go back to their cities and their daily struggles. But they do not go back the same. They go back stronger, empowered, with renewed energy. Because no woman is the same after the Encounter.

In 2002, Marita Verón disappeared. She was 23-years old at the time, and it is strongly suspected that she was abducted by women traffickers, and subsequently forced into prostitution. Her mother, Susana Trimarco, has been instrumental in raising awareness of the case, as well as the issue of trafficking of women.

Almost ten years later, the trial is underway in Tucumán. The case has brought the issue of female trafficking back into the public sphere, and has shed light on some of the realities of the problem highlighting corruption among the police force, politicians and within the judicial system.

How aware are Argentines of female trafficking and the networks that operate within the country? To what extent do they think that the police are complicit in the issue? What do they think needs to be done to stop female trafficking? The Argentina Independent hit the streets of Buenos Aires to find out.

Photos by Allison Kate Cherkis

Cecilia Maitland, 25, Environmental Engineer, Belgrano

I think there is a network that is a lot bigger than people suspect, and that they are doing a lot more than people know about. In other countries in Latin America, it’s clearer that these problems exist, so they give them more importance, but here it’s not as obvious. My opinion is that it’s all connected with drugs and the mafia, but it’s not something I have a lot of contact with – we don’t see a lot about it in newspapers, I don’t see it as something that they give a lot of importance to. To change things, we need to educate women more on the matter, it’s basic: education and for there to be more publicity, bigger campaigns, because I think there’s a problem of ignorance, that the people simply don’t know a lot about it. We should also be made aware of certain situations to avoid as women.

Ines Hernandez, 60, Teacher, Quilmes

Part of my family lives in Tucumán, where Marita Verón comes from. Her mother is working to fight against this issue. But I don’t think she has done a lot for raising awareness in the whole country, and neither has the government. The government should be doing absolutely everything that they can, in any way possible, to raise awareness of the issue, as well as to find Marita. She is either alive or dead. Unfortunately I don’t think she’s alive, but it’s not impossible. In Argentina, girls want to be rich, or to have everything, very quickly. I think girls have lost that sense of sacrifice doing things as they should be done, legally and by working at them. They are then misled; they [the traffickers] tell them that they’re going to Buenos Aires, to work. It’s very common in the north of Argentina, in Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca, that these people tell them that they’ll be staying with a rich family in Buenos Aires, and work as a nanny. They promise them a good job, but it’s a lie. They take them and put them in brothels. There are some unbelievable stories that I’ve heard of. This is a country where the citizens are never protected. There is certainly a connection with drugs. The people that take the girls are paid with drugs. I’m absolutely sure.

Federico Foieri, 35, Physicist, Almagro

I know about it from what I hear on the TV. I know that it exists, and that there is a lot of complicity with the police and the authorities. In my opinion, they receive money to not check certain things, or to look the other way, pay less attention. I don’t know exactly how they do it. I think they just receive money to stay quiet. I’m not so sure about the judicial system’s role, I think more than anything it’s the police, but then again I’m not a specialist in the judicial system. I think most of the time it works well. I think the thing is in lots of places in the provinces, many girls prostitute themselves, and the most important thing to remember is that something’s failing, it may the judicial system, but it seems to us that it’s the police.

Lucia Raffen Templi, 19, Student, San Martin

I think there’s a link between the police and trafficking of women. There’s a load of things that they let pass and don’t do anything about, or they pretend not to have seen. I know that there’s a lot of things going on, a lot of networks that trafficking of women, but it’s not something that people think about a lot here. There are so many cases that don’t get talked about, and people only really think about what’s reported in the news, and they don’t report everything – good or bad news. It’s not something that comes up constantly. I don’t think people are aware of the networks either; I’m not. It’s something that I try to keep very up to date with. I think we as women live in a gender dictatorship, we go out with fear about what could happen to us every day, which doesn’t happen to men. I mean, they may fear getting robbed or whatever, but we go out with the fear that we just might not come back; it’s a constant threat.

Santiago Lopez, 26, Student, Belgrano

They should be doing more to stop this, informing people more, controlling the borders more vigilantly, increasing the punishments for those caught, make them life sentences. There are networks everywhere, I’ve heard it’s especially bad in Missiones and that part, but it’s everywhere, also here in Buenos Aires. The question of prostitution here is contradictory, because people fight against it, but more and more people also pay to see prostitutes. The more people are paying for it as a service, the more they’re enforcing the way these people are treated. I think there’s a lot of corruption among the police, without a doubt. They have a lot to do with this, to me it seems they play a fundamental role. If the police weren’t at the centre of these business dealings, it wouldn’t be how it is at the moment. Police should be doing the job that they’re supposed to do, and should not be complicit in this business.

Oscar Flores, 55, Chef, Retiro

I watch the news, so I’m conscious of the Marita Veron case. I see that the mother is still fighting for her daughter, fighting to find her. I think the case has definitely done a lot to raise awareness about women trafficking here in Argentina. Because it hurts the Argentina that we believe ourselves to live in, it shows that there is corruption. This type of thing doesn’t have to happen, and it hurts more that it involves young women and girls. There should be real examples to show that there is a real and correct judicial system. This case should be used to clarify that, to help stop this happening. I don’t know anything about the actual networks that operate, but I think that a lot of the traffickers are very involved with drugs. Day by day, this aspect must be eliminated before the situation can get better, there are kids who are killing themselves by using drugs. With respect to prostitution, it has always, always existed, it’s another issue. But I think generally the government are doing enough in the fight against trafficking of women, they are concerned with it.

Susana Trimarco (Photo: Natasha Ali)

When Susana Trimarco’s 23-year-old daughter, Marita Verón, disappeared on the 3rd April 2002, little did she imagine the scale of the quest she would embark upon. Trailing the insidious path of Marita’s kidnappers, Trimarco’s decade-long pursuit has led her undercover as a prostitute in La Rioja, and as far as northern Spain, in an attempt to infiltrate the opaque networks of the sex trade. Ten years later, the trial is finally underway in Tucumán, with 13 of the accused due to appear in court over the next few months. But Marita’s whereabouts are still unknown.

Marita is just one of thousands of women in Argentina who are subjected to forms of sexual exploitation and trafficked into hellish conditions at the hands of human trade mafias everyday.

“These girls have no one to protect them, the state makes no effort to find them,” Trimarco told The Argentina Independent. “And so I’m left pursuing the case of Marita, and those of thousands of girls in Marita’s shoes, alone.”

Trimarco’s high profile campaign has been instrumental in catapulting the issues of corruption and impunity at the heart of human trafficking networks into the public agenda, exposing an industry which had remained unlegislated and thus unaccountable for years.

Stolen Lives 

In 2007, Susana Trimarco set up the María de los Angeles Foundation, an organisation aimed at combatting human trafficking and providing legal, psychological, and social assistance to its victims. Andrea Romero, the director of projects, explains how the victims are lured with false promises of work.

“The trafficking networks take advantage of women, mainly from economically vulnerable backgrounds, in such a way that they leave their house on their own accord.”

Once in the grasp of the mafia, a wide array of psychological and physical techniques are administered so as to desensitise their victims. The women are maltreated, ill fed, and frequently enchained.

Removing documentation is a crucial form of domination in the mechanics of the trade. If women are exported without papers or money, it follows that they have no logical means of escape. Moreover, by divesting these women of their identity, the mafia creates the illusion that they simply never existed.

At this stage, the women are repeatedly assaulted with a brutality endemic to the trade and threatened into submission.

“The only way they will be released from this subjection,” says Trimarco, “is if there are organisations set up to empower these women and inform them of their rights. They need to speak out if they are to reclaim their identity and denounce their perpetrators.”

According to a report conducted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, no prosecutions or convictions were recorded for trafficking in persons in Argentina between 2003 and 2007.

In 2008 an anti-trafficking law was passed, making the abduction and sexual exploitation of persons a federal offence in Argentina.

The Rescue Office, established that year under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, oversees the prevention and investigation of human trafficking crimes and provides legal assistance to victims.

Since its implementation 2,774 victims have been rescued, with that number rising by 181% in the last year alone, according to statistics from the Rescue Office.

Fundacion Maria de los Angeles (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

In July 2011, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner passed a decree banning the publication of “adult service” advertisements in newspapers and magazines with “implicit or explicit reference to the solicitation of people for sex” (widely known as Rubro 59). The law marks a crucial step towards addressing the exploitation at the heart of the mainstream media, questioning the “normalisation” of such means of procurement.

“2011 has been a critical year for national measures,” says Viviana Caminos, the national coordinator of the Stop Traficking and Trade Network (RATT). “It was the first time that we began to see significant changes with the Ministry of Security denouncing police forces implicated in the trade.”

Initiatives have been set up to train security forces to detect trafficking networks and assist victims. The schemes will also promote the exchange of data thereby strengthening the capacity of state agencies to prevent and investigate trafficking.

“We are principally an exploitative country,” Carlos Garmendia, Marita’s attorney, explains. “And we are, by that logic, also a recruitment country.”

Whilst many victims are trafficked from Paraguay, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic, “internal trafficking” remains an acute problem.

According to the Fiscal Unit of Kidnappings and Trafficking (UFASE), 39 sentences were apportioned in 2011. While the majority of victims are imported, over 70% of the traffickers convicted are Argentine.

The global human trafficking market now has an estimated turnover of US$32bn. If that figure is accurate, it makes the industry more lucrative than the narcotics trade. Because, unlike drugs, people can be used and abused on multiple occasions. The figures are startling not only because of the ubiquity and the pervasiveness of these ‘invisible’ networks, but because their presence remains integral to the everyday functioning of a country’s economy.

The countries most vulnerable to human trafficking are those that have undergone periods of economic or political crises, leaving a power vacuum to be exploited by criminal networks. Viviana Caminos recalls how the sex trade first became visible in Argentina in 1999, becoming fully conspicuous in 2000, just as the economy took a nosedive and the burden of debt began to take its toll. Women began to be bartered, sold and exploited as commodities in an unregulated marketplace.

The widespread cultural endorsement of prostitution in Argentina is the principal obstacle in infiltrating these opaque networks. Garmendia is categorical: where there is a demand, the supply chain will continue to flow unabated. Raising awareness of the consumption of prostitution is the only way to staunch the supply at its source.

Vicious Cycles: Debt and Dependency

Despite the groundwork achieved by the 2008 law, campaigners are still fervent that the legislation lacks several key amendments. Firstly, the law does not take into account victims over 18 years of age who allegedly consent to prostitution.

Secondly, the legislation does not address the regnant topic of enforced marriages, according to Inspector Claudia Flores, who has overseen a number of trafficking cases in Córdoba. Women from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay, without the immigration papers required to enter the country, are lured into formal marital arrangements. In such circumstances, the women have to provide a dowry and thereafter they are set an unattainable monthly quota to sustain their husbands, ensuring they remain in a perpetual state of dependency.

Not only are these women an extremely lucrative form of currency in themselves, but they are forced to consume and pay for an exorbitant amount of drugs and alcohol, and to sell these substances on to their clients.

“The women need to be sedated simply to entertain the unfathomable number of customers – often 20 to 30 in six hours – that they are subjected to each night,” Flores explains.

A recent high profile court case, overseen by Flores, is that of Victoria P. A mother of two, Victoria was trafficked into the the region known as ‘tolerance houses’ in Río Gallegos, where she was drugged, sedated and forced into prostitution.

Victoria’s tragic tale took a turn for the worse when she fell pregnant to a client. Her pimp subsequently forced her to undergo an abortion, but it failed and she remained pregnant. After giving birth, her child was shipped off to Paraguay and into the hands of the pimp’s boyfriend. Since the brothel counted members of the police and security forces among its clientele, immigration never presented an obstacle.

Andrea Romero, director of the Maria de los Angeles Foundation, speaks on their work to fight sex trafficking (Photo: Trillia Fidei-Bagwell)

According to Flores, politicians, prosecutors and the police are heavily implicated in this trade whose lucrativeness and very existence depends upon their complicity and consent. Even when the brothels are raided and perpetrators convicted, only 6% of the establishments remain closed; for the rest business continues as normal – and the chain remains unbroken.

The case of Lorena Martins, who publicly denounced her father, Raúl, last year, is emblematic. An ex-agent of the state intelligence unit (SIDE), Martins has allegedly been involved in the sex trade for 20 years.

Accused of more than 12 crimes in Argentina, he still has several brothels to his name in Buenos Aires, including The One and Maxim. His notorious Cancún establishment, The Mix, visited by Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri on his honeymoon, was closed in 2011.

According to Martins, such clubs function as covert sites for the exploitation of dozens of women who are forced into prostitution and delivered straight into the hands of leaders of drug cartels.

Relentlessly searching for evidence to incriminate her father, Lorena Martins discovered a series of documents which allude to a payment made to the former head of the Buenos Aires government agency as a contribution to the electoral campaign of Mauricio Macri.

Accusations of corruption are all too common in these cases, and seem to indicate that corruption is entrenched in the system. When there is suspicion that the mafia may be financing political campaigns and bribing the police, who, it may well be asked, is left to hold them to account?

Trimarco remains vehement that “the only way trafficking victims will be released from this subjection is if there are organisations set up to empower them and inform them of their rights. They need to speak out if they are to reclaim their identity and denounce their perpetrators.”

Find out how aware locals are of the issue of women’s trafficking here.

Cristina Prohibiting Sexual Ads with Rubro 59

On 5th July 2011, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed a decree banning all “adult services” sections published in the classified ads – known as “Rubro 59”– of Argentine media. In seven articles, Decree 936 spells out provisions to prohibit “explicit or implicit reference to the solicitation of people for sex trade, by any means”. It also orders the creation of a special branch of the human rights ministry called ‘The Office of Monitoring the Publication of Sexual Commerce Advertisements’ that will survey all classified ads to make sure that the law is followed.

“Newspapers can’t print headlines demanding that we fight human trafficking, while their back pages present ads that humiliate women” said President Fernández during the ceremony at the “Women’s Hall” in Casa Rosada. “This is a giant step forward in the fight against double morals and hypocrisy.”

The Fight Against Human Trafficking

Among the special guests at the ceremony was Susana Trimarco, founder of the Fundación Maria de los Ángeles, an NGO that fights against human trafficking. Trimarco started the organization in 2002, after her daughter Marita disappeared.

“In the search for my daughter I found the face of human trafficking in Argentina. Rather than being intimidated, I continued searching with much more momentum and strength, finding dozens of young women and providing them assistance to get out of trafficking networks and to reconnect with their families.” Trimarco expressed gratitude to President Fernández for what she saw as a step forward in ending human trafficking.

Fundación Maria de los Ángeles fighting human trafficking.

In addition to Fundación Maria de los Ángeles, dozens of other Argentine NGOs are incorporated in a network of Argentine NGOs called “Red No a la Trata”, or the Network against Human Trafficking. La Casa Del Encuentro, or the Meeting House, is one of the feminist organisations included in the Network. Fabiana Tuñez, administrator of the Meeting House, also spoke in favor of Decree 936. “The problem has been the absence of official figures on this activity in Argentina, and the lack of government work on the subject,” she explained.

Jane Kellum, a member of the team at the Meeting House, added, “From our perspective here in La Casa, we’re 100% in agreement [with the new decree]. We think every step made to stop trafficking is a step forward.” Though the Meeting House has a policy of not commenting on the presidency, Kellum added, “We do believe that there has been progress since 2008. That’s a statement I can make. Rubro 59 is a huge step.”

In April 2008, during the first half of Fernández’s presidential term, congress passed a law that formally and legally prohibited all forms of human trafficking. The law bans the collection of people, whether for sexual exploitation, slavery-like practices, forced labour, or illegal harvesting of organs and tissues. Convicted perpetrators face up to six years in prison, or up to 15 if the victim is a minor. The enactment of the law was followed by over a hundred raids within six months, which resulted in 120 arrests and 133 rescues. Controversially, though, only 33 of those arrested remained in detention by the end of 2008.

During her speech on 5th July, President Fernández reminded the attendees that ending human trafficking has been one of her priorities during her presidency. She recalled that since 2008, 2,221 people were released from captivity in various networks of sexual or laboyr exploitation, 1,044 of which were women.

This Tuesday, 19th July, another initiative in the campaign against human trafficking was put into effect: an emergency line exclusively dedicated to human trafficking. Any person suspecting or experiencing any activity related to trafficking, regardless of situation, and can call the number 145 and reach help. The line, dependent on the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, is completely free, anonymous and independent of the federal police, and will be open for calls starting 29th July. “There’s a level of transparency that’s a really positive step. This is something that’s been needed for a long time,” said Kellum about this latest initiative.

Sex Workers Feel Targeted

Though human trafficking was criminalised in 2008, prostitution remains legal in Argentina. According to Luis Jorge Cevasco, law professor and former Secretary of the National Court for Criminal Sentencing, “There are no laws that prohibit charging money to have sex, but it is not legal to carry out sex acts in brothels.”

In fact, in 1994 a group of sex workers in Argentina formed a union called the Argentine Union of Female Sex Workers (AMMAR) in response to constant arrests and police violence. The union, which now has over 1,700 members and is an integrated part of the Argentine Workers’ Center (CTA) and the Latina American and Caribbean Network of Sex Workers (RedTraSex), lists three principal demands: respect for their right to practice their profession freely, government assistance and recognition, and harsher punishments for human trafficking.

AAMAR Protesting in Buenos Aires

AMMAR opposes President Fernández’s decree, arguing in a press statement that “the government should not get carried away with alleged magical solutions. Banning ads is a measure that only succeeds in criminalising our business.”

The organisation was apparently unconvinced by the president’s insistence several times during her speech at the Women’s Hall that the ban on Rubro 59 “does not mean a condemnation of women who work in prostitution, but the defense of an inalienable human right.” The president expressed pity for the plight of female sex workers, saying, “This is just one of the many acts of discrimination against women, maybe even the most humiliating one. We will never condemn a woman [sex worker], because in most cases, no one has the chance to choose the life they lead.”

The Upcoming Election

Those who oppose President Fernández, such as alderman candidate for Rosario, Agapito Blanco, have argued that Decree 936 is an empty populist statement that targets women’s votes in the upcoming election. Blanco says that President Fernández’s solution is merely “cosmetic,” failing to consider the issue of regulating sexual offerings as a whole, taking into account the “broad spectrum and the simultaneity of social nuances.”