Ecuador strengthens the comprehensive response to human trafficking with a focus on prevention, assistance, protection, investigation, and prosecution

Quito, Ecuador | July 1 and 2, 2026

Representatives from public institutions, international organizations, academia, and civil society participated in the I Seminar on Human Trafficking: Assistance, Protection, Investigation, and Prosecution, a space that allowed analyzing the main challenges Ecuador faces regarding this crime and strengthening the capacities of the actors responsible for preventing it, investigating criminal networks, and ensuring the protection and comprehensive reparation of victims. This initiative was developed within the framework of the month against human trafficking, promoted by the Ministry of the Interior, the Public Defender's Office, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). During the event, the official presentation of the Blue Heart campaign was also held, a global initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that seeks to raise public awareness and promote collective action against human trafficking.

During the opening of the event, the Deputy Minister of Public Security, Jorge Rivadeneira, highlighted the need to consolidate a coordinated state response that integrates prevention, early identification, specialized investigation, effective prosecution, assistance, protection, and comprehensive reparation of victims. His speech reaffirmed the commitment of Ecuadorian institutions to a coordinated response to a crime that severely affects the dignity and rights of individuals.

Throughout the sessions, the participants agreed that human trafficking can no longer be analyzed solely from the physical spaces where exploitation occurs. The new dynamics of the crime involve social networks, digital platforms, migratory movements, and increasingly complex financial circuits, which requires strengthening institutional capacities to identify risks, protect victims, and dismantle criminal structures.

In this context, IOM contributed a perspective focused on the protection of people in situations of human mobility. During the seminar, it was highlighted that promoting safe, orderly, and regular migration helps reduce vulnerability factors that traffickers can exploit.

On behalf of UNODC Ecuador, Andrea Villalba, National Expert in Gender and Criminal Justice, presented a reflection on the various vulnerability factors that increase the risk of human trafficking and the importance of incorporating intersectional approaches that include the mainstreaming of human rights, the gender approach, the victim-centered principle, and survivors who can be addressed from a trauma-informed and sensitive approach in the inter-institutional response.

For her part, Adriana Oropeza, from the UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence in Mexico, emphasized the importance of having reliable, comparable, and timely statistical information to better understand the phenomenon of human trafficking. She also highlighted the value of international standards promoted by UNODC to strengthen administrative records and transform data into useful evidence for the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of public policies.

The seminar resulted primarily in strengthening dialogue and cooperation between national and international actors working on the prevention and fight against human trafficking. The exchange of experiences and technical knowledge contributes to consolidating more comprehensive responses, improving institutional coordination, and enhancing the State's capacity to investigate this crime, protect victims, and develop evidence-based public policies. Ultimately, these efforts translate into greater protection guarantees for the population and better-prepared institutions to face one of the most serious forms of human rights violations.