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CLARIN

Can A Ticket Home Solve Argentina's Prostitution Problem?

The news has spread over the social networks in the Argentinean region of Cordoba: “The government of Cordoba pays the ticket for prostitutes to go back to their home region.”

Some of the sex workers were sent home to Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. (Suedehead)
Some of the sex workers were sent home to Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. (Suedehead)
Gustavo Molina

CORDOBA - In this region, a tough new law against human trafficking has now been on the books for 50 days. Brothels and nightclubs have been closed, and victims have been sent back home, in Argentina's broader fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children.

But, says María Amelia Chiófalo, the Secretary for Assistance and Prevention of Human Trafficking, these situations are never simple. "It's about much more than just paying for a ticket back to the places of origin for the victims of sexual exploitation," she explained. "First of all, when a brothel is closed, the victim is rescued, although this is often not recognized as such."

Chiófalo said that after the victim receives psychological treatment, she is offered a range of solutions to help recover from this experience, which can be anything from a job training course to the opportunity to find decent employment. As for the victims originating from other provinces, they are paid their ticket to return to their families. "Prostitution is not work, it is the degradation of the individual," she said.

According to official records, in the province of Cordoba, 115 women who worked as prostitutes in brothels and nightclubs have been rescued since the new legislation was signed into law by Governor José de la Sota.

In the first major operation carried out during the same night the law was enacted, 93 women were rescued, 33 of which were from other provinces. "Most of these girls returned to their places of origin."

"Many of them were mothers and got reunited with their children," Chiófalo said. "We also found women who came from Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, who were offered the trip back to their countries." 

When announcing the enforcement of the law against human trafficking, De la Sota boldly declared: "In Cordoba, the Sinaloa cartel operates in the trafficking of women," a reference to the Mexico-based Sinaloa criminal organization. Alejo Paredes, the Provincial Security Minister, and the secretary for combating human trafficking, refused to confirm this information.

Read the article in Spanish.

Photo - Suedehead

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

On The Donetsk Frontline, Where Kamikaze Drones Are Everyone's Weapon-Of-Choice

In Ukraine, kamikaze drones have gradually overtaken artillery as the main threat to soldiers — on both sides of the frontline. Meanwhile, a bitter winter is taking over life in the trenches.

On The Donetsk Frontline, Where Kamikaze Drones Are Everyone's Weapon-Of-Choice

Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline.

Guillaume Ptak

DONETSK — In the chilly pre-dawn hours, a mud-stained pickup truck drives along a potholed road in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk. Despite the darkness and the ice, the vehicle travels with its lights off, its interior illuminated only by the reddish glow of a lit cigarette.

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Throughout the early morning last Monday, the cracking sound of artillery can be heard echoing intermittently in the distance, followed by the bright trail of a projectile soaring into the cloudy sky.

Inside the truck, four soldiers from the 28th brigade of the Ukrainian army have just left the relative comfort of a small country house to go to the frontline, towards Bakhmut. After a short journey through overgrown fields and devastated villages, the car stops at the edge of a forest.

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