Progress!

This morning, I had an excellent meeting with Luis of CHS (www.chs-peru.com). It’s a nongovernmental organization focusing on Trafficking in Peru. Kique warned me before I went to talk to them that they are associated with the government, so they will try to tell me that they are doing well. It’s true, Luis did paint that picture, but he also at times had that look like, “Well . . . at least we are doing something.” Which I think is very true. So far, CHS has been Peru greatest hope in the battle against trafficking, and even there is much more to do, they are the first to be making real steps of progress. One of CHS’s greatest contributions is the training program with the police officers in Lima on how to recognize and handle trafficking cases. Since they have started their training, the number of cases in Lima has gone up. That’s not because there are more trafficking victims but because police have started to recognize them. He feels that they are Peru is doing well in prosecution and investigation. Currently, the police have a TAP unit and there have been two separate cases in which the trafficker was charged with 30 years in jail. He realizes that there is more work to do, but because of recent efforts, process has been made.

When I asked what Peru still needs to work on, Luis admitted that they have a long way to go in the assistance and protection of victims after they have been recovered. In Lima and in Iquitos there are assistance centers which provide victims with legal and psychological assistance, however there is no available housing or specific centers for people that are have the specific needs of these victims. Luis went on to explain about “La Lunareja,” a women who run a child exploitation prostitution ring in Lima. The police are having difficulties with the arrest because the girls that she is exploiting are too afraid to testify against her because there is no safe place for these girls to go after they testify. Basically, all that I learned and saw in San Francisco with the victim center approach that organizations such as mastered MISSSEY, SAGE, and the Asian Cooperative are desperately needed here in Peru.

I told Luis that I am going to Iquitos for a week, and he told me that child trafficking is much more common there. CHS has made efforts to train the police but it has not done very much good. There is too much social tolerance of the crime for the people to recognize that it is child exploitation. The men that purchase sex thinks that they are doing the girls a favor because they are providing them work. The kids also feel like they are doing their part to help out their families by working. He also told me about the main pier in Iquitos where there are children performing manual labor, carrying heavy loads on and off boats for about 5 soles a day, that’s a little less than two dollars. And nothing is being done because it is tolerated, the people don’t see it as a problem!

Now, onto Arequipa for a Trafficking Conference!