This article tells about the efforts of Susana Trimarco and her attempts to combat human trafficking and in trying to find he daughter who was kidnapped by human traffickers ten years ago. Mrs. Trimarco has gone so far as to infiltrate human trafficking gangs pretending to be interested in buying girls. In doing so, she has collected a lot of information which has helped the police to conduct raids which have resulted in the rescue of dozens of women who were being sexually exploited. Mrs. Trimarco has endured murder attempts on her life, as well as many death threats. She did all of this while trying to find her own daughter. She later launched the Fundacion Maria de los Angeles which has helped to rescue hundred of victims of sexually exploitation and human trafficking. Mrs. Trimarco claims that it has been difficult to find her daughter because authorities , as well as former memers of the police and the judiciary, have been in collusion with the traffickers. Thirteen former police officers are among those accused of being involved in the kidnapping of Mrs. Trimarco's daughter. Eight hundred cases of alleged sexual exploitation are now in the Argentine courts thanks to the foundation set up by Mrs. Timarco and this has resulted in the rescue of about 400 victims. For her efforts in fighting human trafficking, Mrs Trimarco was given the US Secretary of State International Women of Courage award in 2007 by Condoleezza Rice.
Although Susana Trimarco was initially just trying to find her own daughter who had been kidnapped by human traffickers, she continued to put herself in situations where she could have been killed or forced into trafficking herself in order to help save so many other who were being sexually exploited. From the many articles I have read over the past several weeks, it does not surprise me to see in this article that the police and others in positions of authority, are involved in human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls. With human trafficking being a 32 billion dollar a year business, it is easy to see how money can corrupt even the police and other government officials. As I have stated in other blogs, this makes it very difficult to catch and prosecute many who are involved in the human trafficking business. With that kind of money, it is easy to operate under the radar in in the shadows.Tougher penalties are much needed on the supply and demand end of human trafficking.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17560518
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