Mexico City, June 2nd – The Specialized Shelter for Women, Girls, and Boys, Victims of Human Trafficking in Mexico City, is celebrating its tenth anniversary, having provided protection and personalized recovery to more than 200 individuals. Each victim receives an individual recovery plan, based on the conviction that every story requires a unique response.
A Decade of Comprehensive Support and Recovery
Over the past decade, the shelter has expanded its work beyond physical protection, incorporating specialized tools to support victims at every stage of their recovery and address the challenges they face in that process. The institution emphasizes a tailored approach, recognizing the diverse needs of each survivor.
Admission Process: A Coordinated Effort
The process for a victim to enter the shelter begins with a request for protection from the Public Ministry. The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office provides the shelter with sufficient data to facilitate initial care and coordinate the victim’s transfer. Upon arrival, a multidisciplinary team conducts initial interviews in a calm environment, assessing risk factors and the physical and mental health of each person before outlining a care pathway.
Personalized Intervention Plans: A Tailored Approach
Every admission leads to an intervention plan designed around the victim’s particular needs. From the first contact, conditions of vulnerability, emotional impacts, and risk factors are identified to build a specific accompaniment route. This scheme integrates four key areas: social work, health, psychology, and education. Each area establishes specific objectives and actions, ensuring that the care functions, according to the shelter’s director, Cristina Patricia Rivera Acosta, as “a tailor-made suit.”
Medical and Psychological Care: Addressing Complex Needs
The health area includes medical, nursing, and, if necessary, psychiatric care. The shelter also has a sexual and reproductive health clinic, given that many victims arrive without any prior medical attention. For cases requiring more specialized intervention, the institution refers victims to external mental health hospitals. This mechanism allows for the treatment of post-traumatic stress, suicidal ideation, or self-harm that exceeds the center’s internal capacity.
Psychological recovery has no fixed term. Victims often present with post-traumatic stress disorder and complex traumas that require years of therapy. The shelter focuses on equipping them with psychological, social, and medical tools to help them resume their lives, with a strong emphasis on a gender and childhood perspective, especially for maturing girls, boys, and adolescents.
Educational Continuity and Reintegration: Building a Future
One of the frequent consequences of trafficking is school dropout. Since 2025, the shelter has strengthened its educational area to enable victims to complete their studies in person or online through connections with schools, preventing the loss of academic cycles.
The center also develops a “halfway program,” aimed at extending follow-up after discharge. This program builds support networks, health services, educational opportunities, and employment alternatives that foster economic independence.
Legal Accompaniment: Navigating the Justice System
The shelter assigns a specific legal area to accompany each victim throughout the judicial process, from the complaint to the sentence. This area addresses questions about the legal process and ensures that victims appear in court with the necessary guidance. The Public Ministry grants protective measures to safeguard the integrity of the complainant, and the shelter maintains parallel monitoring of the case. Both instances coordinate their actions, with the shelter actively and constantly reporting progress to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes of Human Trafficking.
Confidentiality and Preparedness for the 2026 World Cup
The shelter operates under a strict confidentiality regime. Personnel are obligated to maintain secrecy about cases and not disclose the location where victims are sheltered. In anticipation of the 2026 World Cup, the center is working on hiring additional staff through an agreement signed with the Secretariat for Women of Mexico City. The objective is to have sufficient and trained personnel to respond to the increase in cases that historically accompanies major sporting events.
Staffing and Training: Ensuring Quality Care
The shelter currently operates with a staff of 21 people. Personnel receive ongoing training through workshops, conferences, online courses, and external specialized training. The institution is also working to strengthen agreements with other institutions to expand available tools. The goal is to accompany victims even after they leave the shelter, with access to support networks that sustain their long-term recovery process.
Source: Infobae
