Improved trafficking legislation to go before Parliament by summer

Attorney General Dale Marshall has promised a full review of this country’s Trafficking in Persons Act as new details emerge about the nature and extent of local human trafficking rings.

On Wednesday, Marshall expressed concern that global economic uncertainty is creating the perfect conditions for the lucrative underground criminal enterprise to thrive.

During the launch of an anti-human trafficking awareness campaign, stakeholders heard a real life account from a survivor who was subjected to five months of sexual slavery in Barbados.

Mary [not her real name] was promised the chance to earn lots of money as a hairdresser in Barbados by a woman in her home country who made sure that all of her travel documents were prepared. The young woman’s family was thrilled that she would be able to send them money to make ends meet.

When Mary landed in Barbados, she was met by a woman named Linda who took her travel documents and sent her to live at a house with other young women under the care of a man named John.

Instead of working in a salon, Mary was told one evening to get dressed, that the girls were going out. They were taken to a “house near the sea” where she was forced into sex slavery and had to do “what the customers wanted”.

When Mary complained, her kidnappers threatened to hurt her sisters back home.

“Can you imagine giving sex to five men who were raping me every night?” asked Mary. “I cannot describe how horrible it was for me and I still don’t like to think about it at all. There was no one to complain to and one of the girls said that she had been in Barbados for six months and to shut my mouth, talk to no one and do not believe them when they say that they are saving the money for you. ‘No one gets any money besides $20’.

“If you were good, you would get $40. Eventually, I was able to go to town with the other girls and was given only $20 but was always reminded of what would happen to me if I ran away and how the police would put me in prison and my sisters would replace me,” she added.

After months under slave-like conditions, Mary was put in touch with a safe house who assisted her with food, shelter and counselling, before purchasing her return ticket.

According to the 2020 trafficking in persons (TIP) report from the US State Department, the estimated number of victims facing similar forms of abuse in Barbados is “very significant or significantly increasing”.

Placed on the tier 2 watchlist, Barbados has been identified as a source and destination point for “severe forms of trafficking”.

Attorney General Dale Marshall underscored the need to be “vigilant” about human trafficking and said he was gripped by the “tragic story of Mary”.

“This year, we propose to undertake a review of our Trafficking in Persons Act with a view to strengthening some of its provisions. We hope to start working on that next month with the intention of having amendments before Parliament by summer,” Marshall promised.

“We also plan to review our national referrals system with the intention of streamlining and strengthening operations,” he added.

In spite of the revelation, Marshall maintained that Barbados does not have a major human trafficking problem.

He added that the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, worsened by the economic uncertainty of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has created the perfect conditions for human trafficking to thrive.

“Poverty, war and the concomitant dislocation of large numbers of people which we are seeing now, present many opportunities for the unscrupulous criminals who are either operating independently or as part of organised cartels,” said Marshall.

“Either way, we must be on our guard. It is a connected world. The Caribbean and Barbados are not far away from such trouble spots,” he warned

Research shared on Wednesday suggested that Barbadians are largely unaware about the extent of the country’s human trafficking situation.

To remedy this, Government has launched a campaign to sensitise and educate the public about human trafficking. Local calypsonian Edwin Yearwood has written and performed a jingle to be used in the campaign. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb