gisw13_chapters

ARGENTINAConvergences between ICTs and the trafficking of womenin ArgentinaNodo TAUFlorencia Roveri and Flavia Fascendiniwww.tau.org.arIntroductionArgentina is considered a country of origin, transitand destination for human trafficking, for thepurpose of sexual exploitation and forced labour.Places of origin are impoverished provinces suchas Misiones, Santa Fe, Chaco, Tucumán and Salta.The southern region of the country is consideredto be a destination, given its well-developed tourismindustry, oil and gas industry activities and portregions. 1According to studies, 84% of human traffickingin Argentina is for the purpose of sexual exploitation,as compared to 14% for forced labour, and2% of cases where the purpose is unknown. 2 Thetrafficking of people for sexual exploitation almostexclusively affects women (91%), 3 and most victimsare over 18 years old. There is a small prevalence ofArgentine victims (51%) over foreign women, witha significant number of Paraguayan women (36%),and, to a lesser extent, women from the DominicanRepublic, Colombia and Brazil.In most cases, the victim/survivor did not previouslyknow the abductor. Deception is the preferredmethod used by abductors (in 42% of cases, comparedto 5% for outright kidnapping).There is a low rate of conviction for humantrafficking-related crime, and in general traffickershave earned the complicity of police forces and politicalpower. Statistics in this field are difficult tocompile because a low percentage of cases reachthe courts. 4Traffickers use information and communicationstechnologies (ICTs) to communicate with each other,as well as to communicate with potential victims.ICTs are used to advertise women, and traffickers1 contralatrata.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/cartilla-final.pdf2 www.mpf.gov.ar/docs/Links/Ufase/Informe_anual_2012_UFASE.pdf3 Ibid.4 www.abrepuertas.inecip.org/abrepuertas.php?contenido=noticia_detalle&idnoticia=194www.fundacionmariadelosangeles.org/images/pdf/la-tratasexual-en-argentina-aproximaciones-para-un-analisis-de-ladinamica-del-delito.pdfcan share information about accessing victims overthe internet. 5 At the same time, however, ICTs can beused to prevent trafficking, to remedy the situation,to assist survivors, and to aid women’s recovery.Policy and political backgroundIn 1957 Argentina ratified the Convention for theSuppression of the Traffic in Persons and of theExploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949). 6Later, in 2000, the country signed the InternationalProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traffickingin Persons, Especially Women and Children. 7The protocol defines trafficking as including suchactivities as sexual exploitation, forced labour andorgan removal, and recognises that the crime existsnot only between countries, but also within nationalterritories.Susana Chiarotti from the Instituto de Género,Derecho y Desarrollo, a women’s organisation in Rosario,highlights two aspects of these documents:first, the convention was an abolitionist agreement,and second, the protocol was influenced bycountries that wanted to legalise prostitution (andcategorise it as work) as an essential step prior tothe collection of taxes on the gains of this activity.The protocol also introduced the differencebetween children and adults as regards traffickingand established the requirement for the victim toprove non-consent for an act to be considered trafficking.The discussion around the protocol wasbitter and broke feminism in two worldwide.In April 2008, Argentina approved and enactedLaw 26.364 on the “prevention and punishment oftrafficking of persons and assistance to victims”, 8which followed the protocol’s definitions. As directedby the law, the government created theOffice for the Rescue and Support of Victims of the5 Maltzahn, K. (2006) Digital dangers: Information andcommunication technologies and trafficking in women. www5.apc.org/es/system/files/digital_dangers_EN_1.pdf6 treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=VII-11-a&chapter=7&lang=en7 www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CTOC/countrylisttraffickingprotocol.html8 infoleg.mecon.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/205000-209999/206554/norma.htm66 / Global Information Society Watch