The United Nations Organization (UN) published its world report on post-pandemic human trafficking. In Ecuador, and in the rest of the world, Covid-19 caused cases to be underreported.
Every two years, the United Nations Office against Organized Crime (UNODC) presents the World Report on Trafficking in Persons. On January 24, 2023, the 2022 edition was published. This is the first report after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The document includes official statistics for the period 2017-2020 from 141 countries, including Ecuador, on human trafficking. In addition, it makes a comparison with the data from 2003.
According to global data, between 2003 and 2021, 450,000 victims and 300,000 alleged human traffickers were registered in the 141 States.
The main finding of the report is that by 2020 there was an 11% reduction in reported cases of human trafficking worldwide, compared to 2019.
Esteban Jima, UNODC/Ecuador Human Trafficking Officer, explains that this does not mean that there were fewer cases. What happened was that due to the movement restrictions due to Covid-19 and the confinement, the crime was more hidden.
Additionally, 2020 saw a 27% reduction in the number of convictions for human trafficking globally compared to 2019. The number of convictions has decreased since 2017.
The Ecuadorian case
In the case of Ecuador, Unodc determined that the global trend was replicated. In 2020 there was a 33% reduction in the reported cases, compared to 2019. But, in the same way, it does not mean that the phenomenon decreased.
According to the Unodc findings, despite the lower case reports, the trends remained constant.
With the restriction measures by Covid-19, Ecuador continued to be a point of origin, transit and destination, both for victims of sexual exploitation, as well as, to a lesser extent, for labor exploitation purposes.
The study reveals that female adolescents and young adults are more vulnerable to being sexually trafficked. While, at work, men, adolescents and young adults are more vulnerable.
Falling in love, false promises to improve the quality of life, withholding
documents, threats to report a migratory irregularity and the delivery of money are the means most used in Ecuador to attract victims.
‘Trafficking in Ecuador is internal’
Jima explains that according to the data collected, in Ecuador human trafficking is, above all, internal. That is, it happens within the borders. Generally, the victims are captured in one locality and taken to other provinces to be exploited.
In Ecuador, most of the victims are Ecuadorian. Although
sexually trafficked adolescent and young adult women from Colombia, Peru and Venezuela are also recorded.
The economic and social situation, adverse effects generated by the pandemic, and the contexts of violence promoted by confinement, generated higher levels of vulnerability in people in the face of trafficking during the pandemic.
How does it happen?
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) details six stages for human trafficking to take place.
First, the recruitment of the victim. That is, attract her to an apparently legal activity.
Then comes the transportation of the victims, which can take place in the company of the offender or alone. Subsequently, there is the transfer that consists of uprooting the victim from their community or place of origin.
The fourth point is the delivery of the victim to a third party, temporarily or permanently. The fifth stage is the reception by the trafficking organization, which is in charge of hiding the victims during transit to the final destination.
Finally, comes the reception, which means hiding the victim and keeping her for her subjugation and exploitation.