It is with a presence of more than 120 people from various institutions, such as the Attorney general Office or the National Police, that the International Congress on human trafficking was held last week in San Jose, Costa Rica. This event allowed all institutions to share best practises and to clarify the role and responsibilities of the different entities working on the issue.

Its goal was to go toward a better case management by promoting a more collaborative and complementary approach among all stakeholders. Also, the congress was followed by two days of work sessions and additional conferences, carefully chosen according to the necessities of the participants, to update and enrich the knowledge about the best way to fight human trafficking and its new forms.

The interinstitutional coordination in the management of a crime such as human trafficking is key. Indeed, various actors are involved in this fight, from local police officers to judges, including social workers and district attorneys.

The congress was marked by a very important presence of medias, which allows the CONATT to position better the issue as a strong and important one in Costa Rica, and to sensitize the general population to this complex but very real issue of human trafficking. Since the new technologies play now a very important role in this issue, as offenders often use internet to contact their potential victims, the Congress’s main themes was the new modalities of human trafficking, such as cybercrime.