Winners

Hundreds of thousands of children disappear every year in Mexico. The La Merced ‘market’ in Mexico City is the largest hub of child exploitation in Latin America. Sanjuana Martínez delves into a dangerous world where children are sold for sex, uncovering the rampant corruption that allows those behind this abhorrent trade to operate with impunity.

Published in La Jornada, this article also offers a message of hope, juxtaposing the awful reality of child exploitation with the inspiring work of Achilles Colimoro – an unsung hero who works to rescue these vulnerable children. By revealing the economic interdependence between the criminals and law enforcement, the inaction of the Church and businesses, Martínez prompted a wave of action, culminating in the dismantling of a child prostitution ring and dozens of arrests.

Squaring up to one of the pillars of the Chilean economy – the mining industry – María Paz Cuevas demonstrates true tenacity and dedication to tell the story of the legions of widows whose husbands have died as a result of their work with heavy metals.

This piece, featured in Marie Claire, is a hard-hitting investigative article on the social costs of rapid, unchecked and poorly planned development in Brazil.