or the Cuban State and civil society, crimes related to people trafficking and other forms of sexual abuse are of maximum priority, and confronted with policy of “Zero Tolerance,” according to the second report presented on November 18, on the legal actions and structures to combat these phenomena, published on the Ministry of Foreign Relations official website, Cubaminrex.
The Attorney General of the Republic and Peoples´ Court, a group of organisms affiliated with the Central State Administration, in addition to non-governmental organizations such as the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) and National Center for Sex Education (Cenesex), play a key role in this effort.
The text noted that in 2013 Cuba provided protection to 2,231 girls and boys, victims of alleged acts of sexual abuse, 0.09% of a population of over 2 million children. In the same year the media contributed to the promotion of information regarding sexual health such as “the development of healthy sexuality for all citizens and against the objectification women, girls and boys.”
In addition, the document highlighted the more than 60 projects developed with the United Nations Children’s Fund, and various forums in which the country participated, such as the Third Commission of the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
These are just some of examples of the many action and measure taken by the State to “increase prevention, strengthen confrontation, severely punish the authors, and offer protection to victims,” noted the report, which also highlighted the increased collaboration between the State and diverse international legal instruments relating to the issue.
Working groups affiliated with the Department of Minors of the Ministry of the Interior, carried out more than 55,000 child protection actions related to advice; training; legal and educational guidance for parents; family dynamics; conflict mediation; referrals to medical, psychological and psychiatric care systems; and other legal processes.
In combating the crime of violence against women in all its forms, the report highlighted the work of the FMC, an organization with more than 50,000 voluntary social workers across the entire country and 174 Women and Family Refuge Centers. In addition it performs community work supporting State institutions responsible for caring for victims and legal administration.
Among the instruments signed by Cuba on the issue of combating people trafficking and child protection, cited by the document are the Convention of the Rights of the Child (1990), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981), and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in regards to International Adoption (1993).
Given the indicators relating to social care and citizen safety, free healthcare and education and universal access to culture, sports and recreation, as well as appropriate legal instruments to combat people trafficking and other forms of sexual abuse, Cuba is in a favorable position to enhance and continue organizing preventative and confrontational actions to these phenomena.
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