This past Thursday, November 10, the government of Costa Rica officially launched the campaign “Blue Heart against Human Trafficking”, an initiative that aims to influence the Costa Rican institutions and different sectors to raise awareness among the population about this scourge.

The campaign also empowers society to express its solidarity with the people affected by this network of organized crime.

The campaign is created by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Costa Rica’s National Coalition against illicit traffic of immigrants and human trafficking, which expect to inform the population about the impact, damage and dangers of human trafficking.

To sensitize the population, an alliance is created between the Government and the UN, positioning the topic in the political and institutional level as well as the media level which will help spread information about the actions for prevention and fight of human trafficking. Dialogue spaces will be generated among the government and the civil society, training of public employees in charge of doing research and battle the felony of human trafficking with the objective of increasing the level of trust in the citizens to report the crime.

Social programs will be used to spread alert messages and educate vulnerable populations such as indigenous populations, disabled persons, young people, women, migrants, among others.

Currently, millions of human beings around the world are victims of this crime. This activity is the third most lucrative crime –worldwide- among organized crime.

Costa Rica doesn’t escape this reality; its geographic location is a point of origin, transit and destiny of human trafficking –among other crimes-. In the last five years there have been 147 victims, among foreigners, nationals, adults and minors product of this form of human slavery.

The Blue Heart represents the sadness of those victims of human trafficking and is a reminder of the lack of sensitivity of those who buy and sell other human beings.