Submitted by Dhevy Siva on
Below is a short summary of some of the key issues from Argentina's report by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. Read the full text. Please note that this is not an official UN summary.
A/HRC/17/35/Add.4
Country visit: 6 to 11 September 2010
Report published: 24 May 2011
Argentina is a country of origin and of transit for women and girls destined for sexual exploitation in other Latin American countries and in Europe, mainly Italy and Spain. Trafficking in children for the purposes of bonded labour/peonage is also an especially worrying issue. Even as Argentina has established legislative and institutional frameworks to combat the problem of trafficking in persons, limitations persist. Statistical information essential to determine the prevalence rate, forms, trends and manifestation of human trafficking is lacking and there is no harmonized database to register the interactions of government agencies with trafficking victims at different stages. Coordination of anti-trafficking activities is weak, protection and access to justice are inadequate and the safety and security of persons involved in fighting trafficking in persons is not guaranteed. Tools and referral mechanisms are not effectively in place for easy identification of victims. The capacity to address certain human trafficking issues is poor, including the sensitive issue of police corruption and other members of the security forces.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of Argentina allocate adequate resources to existing anti-trafficking offices and units within the Government, establish a federal central agency to enhance coordination, provide holistic, reintegration and rehabilitative assistance to victims of trafficking in full recognition of their human rights, demonstrate serious commitment and political will as part of the prevention effort to regulate businesses and establish a zero-tolerance policy with regard to corruption to ensure that any State agent involved in the crime of trafficking is duly prosecuted and severely punished. With respect to domestic anti-trafficking legislation, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government approve the proposed amendments to Law No. 26.364 in order to guarantee more stringent penalties against traffickers and to eliminate the issue of consent and distinction based on age. The Government also needs to guarantee the safety of and protection for human rights defenders involved in the campaign to end human trafficking, improve witness protection programmes and allow for an adequate reflection period for victims before judicial proceedings or repatriations and work with countries of origin to ensure that victims are not re-trafficked or re-victimized.
