Marcia Wonghon
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Recife - The campaign against human trafficking will be intensified at the international airport of Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, in Northeast Brazil, during Carnaval, which begins tomorrow (5) and ends on Tuesday (8). This effort is the fruit of a partnership between the Pernambuco state government, the Recife municipal government, and the Latin American Institute for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights.

The campaign consists of the distribution of pamphlets in Portuguese and English, informing tourists about ways to prevent the traffic and places where they can lodge complaints.

According to the manager of the state program for the prevention of human traffic, Ricardo Lins. of the Secretariat of Social Protection, each year over 100 thousand women in Brazil are victims of human trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation. According to data from the Federal Police, most of them are taken to countries in Europe, such as Portugal, Spain, and Germany.

"The state of Pernambuco is one of the main routes for this type of crime, which primarily affects women and children," he affirms. The state is currently investigating 77 cases of human traffic, and 40% of them involve women lured into prostitution under false pretenses of jobs. The rest have to do with organ removal and forced labor.

Translation: David Silberstein