According to the Blue Campaign, “Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sexual act. Every year millions of men, women and children are trafficked around the world, including in The United States. It can happen in any community and the victims can be of any age, race, gender or nationality. Traffickers may use violence, manipulation, or the false promise of high-paying jobs or romantic relationships to lure victims into trafficking situations. Language barriers, fear of traffickers, and / or fear of law enforcement often prevent victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime. Traffickers use force, fraud or coercion to lure their victims and force them to work or sexually exploit for commercial purposes. They look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, lack of a social safety net, natural disasters, or political instability. The trauma caused by traffickers can be so great that many do not identify as victims or ask for help, even in very public settings.

An article from the Congressional Investigative Service says: “Human trafficking is a growing problem in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that contains important countries of origin, transit and destination for victims of trafficking. The main forms of IPT in the region include commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, labor trafficking within national borders and between countries in the region (particularly in South America), and trafficking of illegal immigrants in Mexico and Central America.  According to The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the proportion of victims of trafficking for forced labor outside the commercial sex industry in Latin America (44%) is higher than in Europe and Asia Central. The two Latin American and Caribbean countries with the highest percentages of their populations subjected to “modern slavery,” a term associated with human trafficking, are Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Colombia, according to the Walk Free Foundation.

According to Wikipedia information related to human trafficking, it says: “In Colombia, women and children are victims of sex trafficking within Colombia in areas with tourism and large extractive industries. … Illegal armed groups forcibly recruit children to serve as combatants and informants, to grow illicit crops and to exploit them in sex trafficking. ”

The country of Colombia, South America, has a high prevalence of women, girls and boys who are victims of human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution. These women and girls work within Colombia, and are also sent to sex tourism destinations in other parts of Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Asia, and North America, including The United States. Immigrants in major Colombian cities such as Bogotá, Cali and Medellín find little work and some turn to prostitution as a last resort to feed their families. In Colombia, some men are in forced labor conditions, but forced prostitution of women and children from rural and urban areas remains a major problem. Individual cases of forced marriage: a risk factor for trafficking. Groups at high risk of internal trafficking include displaced persons, poor women in rural areas, and relatives of members of criminal organizations. Continued gun violence in Colombia has displaced many rural communities, making them vulnerable to human trafficking. The guerrillas and new illegal armed groups are reported to be forcibly recruiting children to join their ranks; the government estimates that thousands of children are exploited in such conditions. Members of gangs and organized criminal networks can force their relatives, acquaintances and displaced persons, usually women and children, into conditions of prostitution and forced labor, including forced labor in the illegal drug trade. Colombia is also a destination for foreign tourists who have sex with children, particularly in coastal cities like Cartagena and Barranquilla. Migrants from South America, Africa and China transit through Colombia en route to the United States and Europe; some may be victims of traffickers.

The Government of Colombia fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. During the reporting period, the government increased law enforcement actions against trafficking offenders, enhanced prevention efforts, and continued to provide services to victims through an interagency trafficking operations center and through partnerships with NGOs and international organizations. However, the significant number of Colombian victims of trafficking abroad reflects the need to increase prevention efforts and services for victims.

The InSight Crime website on Human Trafficking says: “On the highway between Bogotá and Medellín there is one of the worst places in Colombia for the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children, since criminal groups abuse underage boys and girls and disadvantaged. Girls between 12 and 15 years old, generally from very poor families, have been forced to offer sexual services to drivers who passed through the service station known as Caracolí, located between the municipalities of Honda and La Dorada, as reported for the first time. once El País (newspaper). This gas station is just a few feet from a police station, yet it is one of the focal points for a network of pimps and motel operators working along this crucial highway. Several organizations that help survivors file reports with authorities told InSight Crime that at least 39 underage girls were sexually exploited in the vicinity of the Caracolí gas station.

The usual method is for potential customers to be approached and offered a catalog with the children’s photos, an investigator who asked to remain anonymous told InSight Crime.

Once a price is agreed, “they call the chosen girl and take her to the right place, be it a motel or private residence,” added the source. This type of sexual exploitation operation, which shows a catalog instead of having girls present, is also known to exist in Medellín.

However, other girls reported being coerced by their families. A 14-year-old girl identified as Patricia told El País that her aunt took her first to Caracolí and offered her directly to truckers for 20,000 Colombian pesos (about $ 6).

Colombia is known as a destination for child sex trafficking. More than 100 cases of child sexual exploitation were brought to the authorities each month between January 2013 and July 2018. And the number is increasing, with the number of reported cases tripling in the last five years.

In an article from the “United States Embassy in Colombia,” it was reported that in the last five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Colombia, and traffickers exploit Colombian victims abroad. Traffickers exploit Colombian men, women and children in sex trafficking and forced labor in Colombia and throughout Latin America, Asia and Europe. Traffickers exploit Colombians in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, mainly in Dubai. According to a government agency, in 2019, almost 55 percent of transnational cases were Colombian victims exploited in human trafficking in Turkey. Traffickers lured victims with fraudulent employment opportunities and then exploited them in sex trafficking and forced labor. In 2019, all of the exploited victims in Turkey originated in Valle del Cauca, 84 percent were exploited in sex trafficking, 13 percent in forced labor, and 3 percent in forced marriages. 38% of the victims of human trafficking cases in the country were from Bogotá and the department of Antioquia, and 44% of the national cases were identified in Bogotá. Government reports published in 2019 indicate that since 2013 approximately 90 percent of the victims identified in Colombia were adults.

Groups at high risk of human trafficking are displaced Afro-Colombians, indigenous communities, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, and those living in areas where illegal armed groups and criminal organizations are active. The sex trafficking of Colombian women and children occurs within the country and around the world. Colombian women and children are victims of sex trafficking within Colombia in areas with tourism and large extractive industries. Transgender Colombians and Colombian men in commercial sex are vulnerable to sex trafficking within Colombia and in Europe.

Traffickers recruit vulnerable women and girls in dire economic circumstances, mostly Colombian, and move them into “webcam modeling”. In some cases, traffickers drug women and girls using fear and coercion through debt and extortion to force victims to perform live sexual acts. In 2019, government officials in a border city raised concerns about the burgeoning webcam industry and its links to sex trafficking. Displaced Venezuelans, including women, children, transgender people and people in irregular migration situations, were the most vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor. In one notable case, traffickers drugged and dressed a boy in girl’s clothes to exploit him in sex trafficking. Traffickers target impoverished women and girls for exploitation in sex trafficking; This vulnerable population accounted for 80 percent of the sex trafficking cases.

Young people living in precarious social and economic conditions are at high risk of becoming victims of trafficking.

Finally, I would like to mention that the company “Edmont International Productions” will continue to produce films about this global crime, normally known as “human trafficking”, since at present according to the RCN radio page “The Ministry of the Interior has registered a significant increase in the number of cases of trafficking in persons in the last seven years: While 62 cases were registered in 2013, so far in 2019 113 cases have been registered -as of December. an increase of 82%. ” This means that despite the different prevention programs of the Colombian state, the figures increase significantly, allowing us to identify the need to create alternatives to reduce this problem. Taking into account the above, the different productions created by the company “Edmont International Productions” generate a great impact on a social level, thanks to the highly perceived awareness content in each story, allowing people to be prevented from the various cases of trafficking people.