While women make up fewer than 10% of Guardia Civil’s officers across the board, they make up 60% of Cristina’s squad. The head of the unit, Felix Duran, explains their recruitment is a “priority”.
He believes that sex trafficking victims, particularly teenage girls, feel more comfortable giving details to a female officer.
Approximately 50,000 trafficking victims are detected across the world every year, the United Nations’ Office on Crime and Drugs (UNODC) estimates.
Its latest global report on human trafficking, published on Wednesday, external, says there has been a 25% rise in the detection of victims compared with the pre-pandemic period, as “more children are exploited and forced labour cases spike”.
The report finds that women and girls continue to account for the majority of victims detected worldwide, who are mostly trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Spain is both a country of exploitation and a transit hub for thousands of victims trafficked into Europe.
Victoria and the other victims were concealed inside an apartment, surrounded by other flats. Victoria felt she was being abused in plain sight – she believes that the cries for help, the beatings, and the constant flow of men coming in and out of the property, would have made it obvious.
“The neighbours; the postman; everyone knew. They could have killed me and nobody would have asked any questions,” she recalls.
After the lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, human trafficking for sexual exploitation went further underground, the Guardia Civil told the BBC.
It says that, while many women are still exploited in public venues, such as bars or on the streets, most documented victims are now concealed in private apartments supplied by traffickers, making it harder for police forces to detect them.
Ilias Chatzis, chief of the UNODC Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, says the high involvement of organised crime groups means human trafficking is now increasingly intertwined with other illegal activities, such as drug trafficking or cybercrime.
“A large number of victims remain undetected because sometimes authorities will prosecute the trafficker for some lesser offence, but not for the trafficking crime, so the victim itself would not be recognised as a trafficking victim,” he told the BBC.
For Victoria, she is grateful that her own experience was recognised by the police, and wants to use it to raise the visibility of those victims still waiting to be rescued.
“They gave me another chance not only to live, but to heal and hug my children again.”
She asked the BBC to be referred to as “Victoria” because it means “victory” in Spanish.
“I go out on the street and I breathe, and I say, ‘my God, thank you, I’m alive’. I feel free and that’s the best feeling.”
Cristina says she marvels at Victoria’s resilience.
“She is an example of how you can survive and overcome such an ordeal”, explains Cristina. “I often think: ‘My goodness, there’s so much inner power, such bravery in you.'”
Source link
