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IJM Trains Bolivian Police Forces in Anti-Trafficking Strategies
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008

The training program is bringing improvements in investigation strategies for sex trade and human trafficking

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA - The NGO International Justice Mission created a training method by which the Special Anti-Crime Forces (Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Crimen) can improve strategies and investigations in cases of sex trade and human trafficking.

The national director for IJM Bolivia, Jaime Farrant, set up the training programs in response to an agreement between the NGO and the government institution to improve police training in various areas.

Their main concern is taking into account the fact that most cases of sex trade and human trafficking involve children. “In one of his visits to the FELCC in El Alto, the US Ambassador said it stood out as a relevant issue in Latin America.”

To that effect, these courses offer the police force improvements in investigation strategies for sex trade and human trafficking with better understanding of the laws, establishing good practices and better treatment in aftercare work with minors, and strengthening the investigation process.

The program is intended first for the FELCC forces with the proposal to repeat them with the local police forces, assured Farrant. “This process will be a big help because there aren’t any specialized forces focused on this issue.”

VICTIMS
According to the IJM Director, in cases of child abuse, sex trade, and trafficking minors, the majority of sexual abuse in Bolivia is an ongoing problem with new registered cases on a regular basis. Of the cases that remain on record, only one percent of those registered result in a judicial sentence, said Jaime Farrant.

“The family often thinks that the child will forget their abuse if they just stay home or away from the location of their abuse. Unfortunately, abuse is a serious crime that affects the child for the rest of their life if they are not properly cared for,” he asserted.

“When there isn’t space for the victims to receive psychological treatment, especially in the case of children, the consequences are terrible because they can become dysfunctional,” he said.

“We look for abuse victims because the child will learn to live with the abuse as though it were normal, and the adults won’t know how to treat them, being unable to respond to what they learn they inadvertently hurt their own children,” he explained.

According to Farrant, in Bolivia there are no registered statistics at the rate at which they encounter cases of family violence, sexual abuse, and the trade and traffic of minors.

“But the cases that result in sentencing only reach one percent due to a lack of resources to continue the case to completion, lack of information, or because they are prevailed upon by perpetrator to give up,” he remarked.

Meanwhile ninety percent of victims who are minors in the cases mentioned, do not receive the help of the police, prosecution, or any other kind of help when they seek it.

“Due to a lack of resources, no one is qualified as legal officials, prosecutors, judges or even the police to handle the problem of minors and victims, sadly resulting in some becoming victimized again.

In the city of El Alto, much like the country, there is a shortage of aftercare facilities to help victims of sexual abuse, trade, and human trafficking, especially when those victims are children. “In this case it is the established specialty of the police force to give the necessary aid,” raised Jaime Farrant, National Director of International Justice Mission.

The International Justice Mission in 2003 and 2004 carried out the training program for 1,300 police officers in the city of La Paz and El Alto. Unfortunately, to date the quantity of trained forces are still limited, with fifty percent having already been sent to other areas within the police force, leaving behind a new force having to start the first phase of training again, to take care of cases of abuse, trade, and trafficking of minors.
 
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