REFERENCE.
The Attorney General of the State of Bolivia, Juan Lanchipa, reported this Sunday that during 2023, 1,359 cases of human trafficking and trafficking, and other related crimes such as pornography and pimping, among others, were registered in the country.
Lanchipa specified that these 1,359 events fall under Law 263, Against Human Trafficking and Smuggling, and that of the total, 989 cases, 73%, correspond to the crime of human trafficking, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. of the State.
The majority of the cases occurred in the department of La Paz, which reported 691, followed by Santa Cruz with 241, Cochabamba 189, Tarija 91, Oruro 59, Beni 33, Chuquisaca 28, Potosí 23 and Pando with 4, the Prosecutor’s Office detailed. .
In addition to the acts of human trafficking, the Public Ministry reported 226 crimes of pornography, 82 cases of pimping, 45 of human trafficking and 17 of commercial sexual violence, according to data from the Gender and Juvenile Crimes Directorate of the Prosecutor’s Office.
Lanchipa argued that “living in an increasingly interconnected world,” people must be aware “of the risks posed by online platforms and be alert to the sophisticated tactics used by criminals and criminal organizations to capture victims.” ».
The prosecutor urged the population to “encourage dialogue” within the home “to prevent this scourge that mostly affects adolescents and women.”
The official indicated that in 2023, the State Attorney General’s Office signed agreements “to receive cybertipline reports in order to investigate cases that fit related crimes such as pornography.”
“This reality requires our collective attention and the commitment of all competent authorities to prevent, detect and combat this crime that affects the integrity and dignity of the most vulnerable in our society,” he reflected.
Last Friday, the Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office handed over to Argentine authorities a 14-year-old teenager who had been reported missing in that country since January 4 and who was rescued in a home in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, where she was with a 23-year-old man who “captured” her through social networks.
The teenager was taken to the border town of Yacuiba, in the southern region of Tarija, and was handed over to the Immigration authorities of the Argentine province of Salta. EFE