María Peinador, MA

Affiliation: Rey Juan Carlos University

Criminologist and PhD Candidate in Law with a thesis in Human Trafficking, María is a specialist in the international protection of Human Rights and Children's Rights; expert in the study and fight against human trafficking. Her professional career has focused on the design of programs for the protection of human and children's rights, specializing in the identification, analysis, and prevention of different forms of violence against children and women, the coordination of projects and social entities, and the development of training materials on these issues.

The field to which she devotes her entire professional career is human trafficking, having conducted International Cooperation stays in different orphanages located in hot spots and large trafficking areas in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Thailand for several months, as well as traveling to more than a dozen countries in the region training and investigating the development of this crime.

As a result of this vocation, she has developed her work as a technical expert of the Spanish State Programme Against Trafficking in Human Beings for the Women's Institute through TragsaTec, in different social entities dedicated to the eradication and assistance to victims of trafficking, conducting training courses on this subject in different institutions, participating as a speaker at national and international congresses, and conducting researches on the subject.

Research Interests:

  • Human trafficking in Southeast Asia

  • Gender-based violence

  • Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of reproductive exploitation

  • Therapeutic needs of exploited persons & reintegration methods

  • Victim identification inside countries and across borders

  • Rights and protection of children and women who are victims of trafficking

  • Child trafficking and unaccompanied minors

  • Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)