Susana Trimarco

Sara Susana del Valle Trimarco de Veron, or Susana Trimarco (born 1954), is an Argentinian human rights activist, whose efforts to combat human trafficking and corruption have been recognized internationally. After the 2002 disappearance of her daughter, who is believed to have been kidnapped by a human trafficking network, she spent years searching for her, and started a foundation to support victims of sex trafficking. Her lobbying is credited with bringing corruption and government impunity to the fore in Argentina, a discussion which led to a 2011 law banning the advertisement of sexual services in newspapers and magazines.

Life

Susana Trimarco's daughter Marita (born María de los Ángeles) was kidnapped in San Miguel de Tucumán, the capital of Tucumán Province, on April 3, 2002. Twenty-two-year-old Marita had gone to a doctor appointment when, according to a witness, she was pulled into a red car. It is believed that she was forced into prostitution.

Trying to find her, Trimarco began to visit brothels dressed as a prostitute. She received threats and was given false clues in order to mislead her search. Her investigations led to the release of other women deprived of their liberty, but her daughter is still missing.

In 2007, Trimarco founded the Fundación María de los Ángeles ("María of the Angels Foundation") in order to rescue kidnapped girls in Argentina. It claims to have achieved the release of hundreds.

In December 2012, seven men and six women were charged with Marita's kidnapping, but acquitted in a Tucuman criminal court. A week later, Trimarco met with Argentina's president, and impeachment proceedings were started against the 3 judges who had delivered the verdict. In December 2013, ten of the original 13 defendants were convicted of the kidnapping and sexual exploitation of Marita Verón.

Personal investigations After just a few hours past her disappearance, Trimarco began frantically searching for her daughter and filtering reports of sightings. A street prostitute said she had heard about the kidnapping. About a dozen people called in, all with the same story, and each caller described a woman who could have been Marita. Whenever Trimarco asked for police help the authorities proved to be unhelpful. "Whatever way I told the police to look, they would look the opposite way", she said.

Trimarco quoted: "I screamed until I couldn't scream anymore. And then I realized that I had to be strong. I had to think with my head and not just my heart. These people were powerful, and I was a nobody, and I had no money, no power, no resources. I had to be smarter than them if I wanted to get my daughter back". In 2011, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner enacted "Rubro 59", which bans the advertisement of sexual services in newspapers and magazines. For the first time, the Ministry of Security was able to uncover that police forces were implicated in trafficking rings.

In 2008 an anti-trafficking law was passed, and a Rescue Office was established in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to oversee the prevention and investigation of human trafficking crimes and provide legal assistance to victims.

On March 14, 2012, the Canadian government honored Ms. Trimarco with the John Diefenbaker Defender of Human Rights and Freedom Award.

Trimarco was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

Media The Telefé series Vidas Robadas ("Stolen Lives") was inspired by this case.

Susana Trimarco was also the subject of a 2009 documentary, Fragmentos de una Búsqueda (Fragments of a Search), directed by Pablo Milstein and Norberto Ludín.

A season 16 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, "Undercover Mother," was inspired by Susana's story.