SANTA MARTA GROUP | PROGRESS REPORT 2017

ARGENTINA Argentine Federal

• The participation in this Group has enabled the strengthening of the relationships with Church or- ganizations that fight against human trafficking as well as it has expanded our ties with different civil society organizations.

• At police level, units against human trafficking were set up across the country and in the new region- al agencies, appointing personnel qualified for the fight against this serious crime according to the pe- culiarities and patterns observed in each region.

• Directives were given to the investigators to contact civil and ecclesiastical associations focused on the is- sue of exploitation and trafficking in persons and to be available to work in conjunction with them.

CONFERENCES IN ARGENTINE

“EVERYBODY TOGETHER AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING” City of , 09 June 2017.

• Relationship with the Church - Representatives of ecclesiastical organizations work- ing on human trafficking and victim support have been called once again. Throughout the year, two meetings were held with them, with the purpose of maintaining and enhancing these relations.

As a result of the meetings held with Church repre- sentatives, it was found that it was possible to work together in trainings and actions aimed at strengthen- ing the personal ethics of police officers. In this sense, THREE conferences have taken place so far, all of them with the participation of the Oblate Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer, who made presentations on their work done in assisting and supporting victims of hu- man trafficking and prostitution. During their speech- es, they have stressed the importance of placing the victim at the centre of every activity. SANTA MARTA GROUP | PROGRESS REPORT 2017

-Conference: “EVERYBODY TOGETHER AGAINST - Conference: “IT IS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER” (“Se HUMAN TRAFFICKING” (“Todos contra la trata de trata de trabajar juntos”) - RIO GALLEGOS personas”) City of Rio Gallegos (Santa Cruz Province), 15 November City of Buenos Aires, 09 June 2017. 2017. Addressed to ONE HUNDRED (100) Commissioners, Addressed to over ONE HUNDRED (100) police officers from chiefs of operational units in the City of Buenos Aires the , and other federal and provincial forces lo- and surrounding areas. cated in the City of Rio Gallegos and surrounding areas. - Conference: “IT IS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER” (“Se trata de trabajar juntos”) - ROSARIO City of Rosario (), 15 September 2017. Addressed to ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY (120) police officers from the Federal Police, and other fed- eral and provincial forces located in the City of Rosario and surrounding areas.

“IT IS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER” “IT IS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER” City of Rosario (Santa Fe Province), 15 Sept 2017. City of Rio Gallegos (Santa Cruz Province), 15 Nov 2017.

- The basis for the cooperation with Salesian schools LINKS PREVENIR TV within the City of Buenos Aires was set in regards to Seminario Todos contra la Trata de Personas the participation in awareness raising activities and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8jgtjdb-w0 trainings for students, parents and educators. In this Conferencia en Rosario “Se trata de trabajar juntos” sense, a workshop organized by the Marist school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3_nRsAe8dk “La Inmaculada” has already taken place and it was agreed that this experience should be replicated in FUTURE PLANS different educational institutions. Deepen the relatiomship with the Catholic Church´s or- • At a national level, the “National Rescue and ganisms, adding other ecclesiastical organisms to the re- Support Program for Victims of Human Traffick- alization of new training an conferences. ing” of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of our Nation has rescued and/or assisted a total of 1,236 victims from 01 January 2016 to the first Hold new conferences in Misiones, Tucuman, San Juan y half of the year 2017. Jujuy, provinces where human traffiking has their own re- • In the cases of 725 of the victims mentioned above, gional characteristics. the was directly involved. Furthermore, this Police has achieved the rescue of 41 Maintain functioning the working table and the coordination persons who were victims of other related crimes, it with church organizations working on human trafficking. has conducted 3,838 preliminary investigations and 401 house searches, and it has arrested 140 persons accused of committing this crime.

*(Statistics from 1/1/2016 to 1/7/2017 – National Rescue Program and Human Trafficking Division – Metropolitan Area and Interior Area).