The topic I have chosen for my final project is women victims of human trafficking in Spain, which is my country of origin. I think that it is often a little-known reality, and we think that because we come from a fairly developed country, we do not have these problems, but nothing could further from the reality. 

In Spain, according to the Ministry of the Interior, between 2017 and 2021, 1438 people have been identified as victims of human trafficking, 64 of whom were minors. To these figures we must add 4,420 victims of sexual and labor exploitation, including 36 minors. 

Therefore, we can identify that the percentage of victims of trafficking for sexual purposes is much higher, reaching 61%. In addition to the victims of trafficking for sexual purposes, we can identify that 93% of the victims are women. In terms of age, 70% of the victims are between 18 and 33 years of age. 

As far as the sex of the detainees is concerned, 60% are men and 40% are women. To be honest, this figure caught my attention as I did not expect so many women to be arrested for this reason. On the other hand, like most of the victims, most of the aggressors come from Colombia, Spain, and Romania. 

Human trafficking is, without a doubt, a violation of human rights, and unfortunately, it affects millions of people around the world, with women being the most affected. In the specific context of Spain, women victims of human trafficking represent a harsh and difficult reality that demands specialized attention and effective solutions. 

One of the purposes of my blog is to analyze the situation of women who are involved in this situation in Spain, and to do so, I have decided to investigate the challenges they face, the reasons why they have ended up in this situation, and the measures we need to address this problem effectively. 

For the purpose of this blog, it is essential to contextualize the topic and understand the magnitude of this problem both globally and, in my case, in the context of Spain. 

In Spain, the predominant activity in the trafficking of women is sexual exploitation, where victims are subjected to forced prostitution. Most of these women come from Latin America or from the most vulnerable countries in Europe. In Spain, most victims come from Colombia, Spain, and Romania. These women are promised a better future in the destination countries, so it is easier to recruit them. Once they arrive in these countries, they are forced into forced labor, i.e., once they realize that they have been tricked, it is too late and very difficult to get out of this situation. 

One of the barriers we face when dealing with this issue is the invisibility of its victims, and the fact that these jobs are done clandestinely makes it very difficult for society to be aware of this problem. 

In addition, clandestinity makes it difficult to identify and rescue women who are trapped in this network of abuse and deceit. On the other hand, there is also the stigmatization factor, as these victims often do not report the facts to the authorities for fear of punishment and out of shame. 

The Spanish legal framework provides resources to combat this serious problem. In this country, as in many others, there are several laws and regulations in place regarding trafficking, although it remains a complex challenge to combat it. 

From my point of view, I believe that more coordination is needed between authorities, non-governmental organizations, citizens, and many other actors that can help to strengthen the mechanisms of identification, protection, and rescue of trafficked women. I believe that one of the key solutions to this problem is rescue, and it is vitally important that victims receive comprehensive assistance, and Spain advocates for this.