Lima rescues 54 victims of forced prostitution

Blog #7

Divintrap, Peru’s department against slavery and human trafficking, rescued 54 women forced into prostitution in Calle Nicolás de Piérola which is downtown Lima. Of the 54 women, four were less than 17 and the rest were between the ages of 18 and 21. Basilio Grossman, chief of Divintrap said “They have been exploited since they were minors. These places had hidden rooms where prostitution took place,” Like most women who are victims of human trafficking, they were tricked with the promises of work and wages. Of the four minors, two were returned to their parents and the two were housed in a shelter. None have wanted to give details on what happened; in fact initially they claimed that they went into prostitution of their own will. Still, some of the victims were able to identify the woman that had "recruited" them among the 10 detained suspects. Betsy Córdova, secretary for Peru’s group against human trafficking, said in 70% of cases the people in charge of capturing victims are women themselves. Human trafficking has too much of a foothold in today's society. In developing countries like Peru, women will do things like trust strangers in order to get a job. They are the ones who shoulder the responsibility of taking care of family and need a job in order to do that. So when another woman comes along saying "Hey, I know of a job where the pay is steady!", they are desperate enough to believe it. Using another woman as the recruiter is logical, since they are initially easier to trust. What's terrible is that the recruiters probably have to find victims or else be victims themselves. So the whole thing is a terrible cycle with some males coming out on top.

http://www.livinginperu.com/news-14284-crime-raid-downtown-lima-rescues-54-victims-forced-prostitution