Human trafficking and baby trafficking, the dark side of reality in Peru

The buying and selling of babies, prostitution of migrant women under the pretext of getting a job and using poor teenagers to work in exploitative mining schemes are two different sides of the same coin. Human trafficking in Peru is a scourge that stains various realities of society. He explains that within the explanations given by both the Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the main forms of recruitment, the vast majority of cases are centered on false job offers and the means is deception.

Change of model

The map of trafficking in Peru has become international due to the arrival of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, and the increase in the use of technology in minors, among other factors.

"With the migration phenomenon, more than 1,200,000 people (from Venezuela) entered the country formally or informally. This has created a change in the morphology of the crime of sexual exploitation. It indicates that this migration has caused more victims to the business because they are "very vulnerable people, who come with few resources and who are deceived and, therefore, are also exploited", a change in the itinerary of trafficking networks, and an "internationalization of criminality", which involves more countries, in addition to Venezuela.

This phenomenon is explained by the presence of foreign criminal organizations that have a lot of power in border areas, therefore they are especially Brazilian, Ecuadorian and Colombian gangs. And remember that human trafficking is not an isolated crime, it is associated with many other crimes such as contract killing, control of territory, very common in criminal economies.

On the other hand, another of the new characteristics of the new model is an increase in the use of technology as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, from which point onwards all Students had to access the Internet to study.

This has multiplied the cases of recruitment of minors for sexual purposes, for example, which is why it is necessary that patrols not only be in the streets, but also on the networks.

Insufficient budget

Remember that there have been advances in recent years, such as the growth of specialized prosecutors in this crime, public defenders who are dedicated to this issue, which allows the victim to have the possibility of being defended by the State. There is also a specialized police force at the national level and care centers for underage victims. 

"In practice, we have a very powerful and important regulatory framework, but not a political reaction from the State," he says, adding that "one thing is discourse, and another thing is action, and there is a very important gap between what is said and what is done."

In addition to the prosecution of the crime of trafficking at all levels, investments are needed for prevention actions, so that people, especially the most vulnerable, know that the situations they are experiencing are trafficking and can report them, and victim reintegration centers.

"Over the years, the budget has been decreasing, until it became practically insignificant in 2021, when it reached a little more than 4 million soles, which, divided by the Peruvian population, gives an average of 12 cents per person (3 cents of a dollar)," says Valdés. He concludes by indicating that if the model is becoming more complex, both in hard-to-reach areas and border areas and in networks, the model of action to deal with it will have to be radically different.