By Wendy Anders

Costa Rica’s northern border region with Nicaragua just got a little harder for human traffickers, and a little safer for its potential and current victims.

The Rahab Foundation, a Costa Rica non-profit founded in 1997 and dedicated to stopping human trafficking and the human sex trade, set up shop last week in the border town of La Cruz, Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica.

The move was made possibly by support from the Embassy of the United States in Costa Rica, said Embassy officials.

The Embassy’s International Bureau for Counter-Narcotics Assistance and Law Enforcement (INL) contributed nearly one half of a million dollars for the foundation’s enhanced border work and new office.

The Rahab Foundation has created strategic alliances with local police and other government offices to expand its efforts against human trafficking in the northern border region.

Guanacaste province’s northern edge forms the country’s porous national boundary with Nicaragua, and is dotted with sparsely populated, poor agricultural towns along the San Juan River. The other face of the province is its year-round international beach tourism, much of it very upscale. This combination of social and geographic factors make the province one of the most rife with sexual exploitation and sex trade activities in the country.

“Rahab is deeply grateful to the U.S. Embassy for believing in the work we do,” said Rahab Foundation director and founder, Mariliana Morales, who explained that the new center in La Cruz, Guanacaste in addition to prevention work, also includes rehabilitation services for rescued victims of the human and sex trade.

Costa Rica’s Immigration Director, Gisela Yockchen, was present at the office inauguration, as was deputy mayor of the Municipality of La Cruz, Rosa Molina Martinez, along with public safety representatives, the National Institute of Women officials, cantonal development committee members, local residents and supporters, and Embassy representative Robin Matthewman.