The university development cooperation project entitled “Socially Responsible Citizens to Eradicate Trafficking of Women and Girls for Sexual Exploitation,” has ended. This project was co-funded by the UMH and Generalitat Valenciana, and it was rolled out in accordance with a 2020 University Development Cooperation Agreement. Likewise, it was designed to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular Goal 1, No Poverty; Goal 3, Good Health and Well-Being; Goal 4, Quality Education; Goal 5, Gender Equality; Goal 10, Reduced Inequalities; and Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

This project is part of the line of university development cooperation, and participating in it from the UMH were María Jesús Navarro Ríos, as project director; Anastasia Téllez Infantes, expert in masculinities; in addition to Carmen Terol and Maite Martín, who are research experts on the perception of prostitution among citizens. Participants from Colombia included institutions, such as that country’s attorney general, the City Hall of Zipaquirá, and the central body managing project actions was the Fundación Orígenes Colombia, whose director is Nancy Zamora Rendón.

Among this project’s main actions were the organization of bilateral Colombia-Spain conferences to share information on the realities of the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation; the creation of professionally-prepared certified training, which was offered free of charge to citizens; as well as the creation of audiovisual information to publicize the crime of servile marriage.

Project director, María Jesús Navarro Ríos, insists that “there is a tremendous need for training and awareness among citizens with respect to understanding the realities of the prostitution system, and raised awareness, training, and bilateral cooperation between countries that recruit prostitutes and consume prostitution being key aspects to fight against this unique crime.”