It is everyone’s responsibility to combat trafficking in persons and this implies repugnant as citizens, fight it as authorities and denounce it as victims or witnesses, said Alberto Elías Beltrán, Deputy Attorney General for International Affairs, as substitute for the Attorney General of the Republic.
Our country took a great step in combating this crime by achieving the first condemnatory sentence, of 14 years in prison, within the framework of the current Accusatory Criminal Justice System, he said during the celebration of draw 3678 of the National Lottery for Assistance Public, dedicated to the “Blue Heart 2.0” campaign, with the hashtag #AquiEstoyContraLaTrataDePersonas.
Accompanied by Rafael Avante Juárez, Undersecretary for Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Elías Beltrán stressed that the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) has very clear responsibilities, both to prevent, investigate and prosecute criminals, as well as to protect the victims.
He highlighted that important protection mechanisms have been generated, among them the shelter to attend victims of trafficking or extreme gender violence, where they are offered physical security and seek to empower them by formalizing studies and productive projects to rebuild their quality of life .
Likewise, he reported that within the framework of the National Program to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, informative talks have been held in schools, booklets have been disseminated and more than 15,000 public officials have been trained in the subject.
Referring to the cases of Colombian and Venezuelan women who are captured and transferred to Mexico for the purpose of sexual exploitation, Elías Beltrán pointed out that specific routes for the transfer of people to the United States have been identified, which is why work is being done to expand and improve the international cooperation mechanisms.
Finally, he emphasized the importance of counting on the active participation of the citizenry, which is why progress has been made facilitating anonymous complaints, improving the quality of services and care for victims in the institution, helping in the dissemination of information campaigns and offering rewards to those who provide information for locating likely criminals.