Today is the International Day against Trafficking in Persons. The years of fighting a crime that claims the lives of so many people worldwide come to mind.
I don't believe in coincidences. Minutes before writing these lines, I received a message with the preliminary investigation into Carmen Argibay, a woman who all her life fought against gender violence and as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina, created the Women's Office. I had the privilege of meeting her, of accessing the brilliant training on Gender and Prevention in the field of Human Trafficking. Carmen left an eternal legacy, as the research that accounts for her work is titled. He did a lot so that this crime can be eradicated and gratitude, like his legacy, will be eternal.
It pains me to think of so many women, men, girls, boys and adolescents who are victims of this crime. There are those who lose their lives while deprived of their freedom and for those who survive, life is very complex. We live in a world where empathy and fraternity do not prevail as they should, where prejudices and stigmas persist, where judgment is always present, without knowing the hell that these people lived.
I thank God for having embraced the defense of victims for many years, to be able to contribute to the prevention of this crime from wherever I am and especially to meet along the way with people committed to the issue, who give the best of themselves. I wish I could mention them all, but I dedicate this article to Matt Friedman, the man with the most merciful look I have ever met in my life, and to my dear friend Jerry Nelson, of indescribable generosity and who from Thailand fights against this crime.
I also thank the SE4U Americas Network and Horacio Pacheco for the opportunity to train so many people in Latin America and also in Europe.
I ask that those who were victims not be forgotten. Loan Peña, Marita Verón, Fernanda Aguirre and so many other people in Argentina and the world. I pray for them and their families, friends and also for our societies that are irreparably damaged when a being is deprived of their fundamental rights.
Hopefully one day human beings will understand that violating people's rights is an undignified and reprehensible act, as is revictimizing.
A long way to go, deconstruct and one day learn that we all have the right to a dignified life. Unless this happens, humanity will continue to suffer, because when a person is a victim of this aberrant crime, the social fabric is seriously wounded. May God grant that one day fraternity will win the battle against so much individualism.
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