Inter-American Parliamentary Group on Population and Development

The law, sponsored by Senator María Cristina Perceval, Chair of the IAPG Board of Directors, will implement measures to prevent and punish trafficking in persons and to assist and protect victims thereof. Trafficking in persons not only entails an array of new political, social and legal problems but also does bring to surface the contradictions and unequal levels of development among societies, exposing the situation of millions of women, girls and boys who are hostages to organized crime and transnational mafias. “It’s a complex problem that requires a state policy that brings together collective efforts. The trafficking law closes a legal and institutional gap in the fight against new crimes and new permutations of human rights violations,” stated Perceval. The law establishes trafficking in persons as a crime, which it defines as the recruitment, transport and/or transfer, accepting or receiving persons for purpose of exploitation, with aggravating circumstances when the victims are under 18 years of age, and penalized by three to fifteen years in prison. It specifies that trafficking for the purpose of exploitation exists when a person is reduced to or maintained in a condition of slavery or servitude; when the victim is obligated to perform forced labor; when the exploiter promotes or benefits in any way from sex work; or when illegal extraction of human organs is put into practice. The law establishes that trafficking in persons is a federal crime, which facilitates unity of criteria and swiftness in resolving legal action, by improving cooperation and criminal legal assistance between the Federal and provincial governments and between Argentina and other states, given the transnational character of the crime. It recognizes that victims have the right, among others, to free psychological, medical and legal assistance; to special protection and care when testifying; to measures that guarantee their physical and psychological integrity; to have their identity protected; and to participate and be heard in all stages of the process. Trafficking in persons is an extreme form of exploitation of human beings that is transnational in scope. It is a highly lucrative and low-risk “business” for those who profit from it, but extremely offensive for the millions of people, especially women, girls and boys, who are exploited daily with almost absolute impunity. The law is complementary with the National Program for the Prevention and Eradication of Trafficking in Persons and Aid to Victims, recently created by the National Executive Body. These tools will transform our institutional framework and strengthen not only Argentina’s commitment, but also that of society as a whole, to creating a more just and egalitarian world for all.

Buenos Aires, April 2008.

For further information, please contact 54 11 4010-5462 Or by e-mail at: maritaperceval@yahoo.com.ar / oficinaperceval@gmail.com

Read the text of the law (in Spanish only).