Sex trafficking thrives amid poor law enforcement, ignorance – experts

Sex trafficking and its victims often go unnoticed in the Caribbean because of a lack of information and limited training among law enforcement officials, two experts told a US Embassy forum Monday.

UWI Cave Hill Senior Lecturer Dr Joan Phillips and Grenadian Crown prosecutor Brendon LaTouche made the comment during Monday’s lunchtime lecture, hosted by the embassy on social media.

The lecture, to mark US National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, sought to give details on the current state of human trafficking in the region and how the crime preys on the most vulnerable in society.

Despite public opinion, human trafficking is a very real thing in the Caribbean, according to the lecturer.

Dr Phillips said: “The Caribbean has been identified as a source, transit and destination region for human trafficking. Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) has claimed that they have identified 350 suspected victims of human trafficking in April 2018 from Latin American and the Caribbean; including Brazil, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

“However, the report does allege that these victims may have been subject to sexual exploitation and forced labour. Some were rescued from nightclubs, factories, mines and markets.”

The human story behind the victims of human trafficking for sex often goes unrecognized, as Governments often seek to punish the crimes more than try to understand why they occur, the expert said.

Calling for the authorities to see trafficked sex workers as victims rather than criminals, Dr Phillips noted that many are often poor people who trade personal freedom for a chance to earn money abroad.

She cautioned that without investment into research on the trade, it will continue to grow as an industry.

She added: “The system of deportation as the way to solve the trafficking issue, is not a victim-centred approach towards combating sex trafficking. This approach denies the voices of the victims to be heard, and consequently their ability to inform any policy that can be developed. We know little about their stories, working conditions, and their outcomes. That is why we need further research in the area.”

Grenada Crown Counsel LaTouche agreed that more research was desperately needed within the region, in order for security forces to better respond to these activities when they arise.

In his experience, he said, the lack of research has placed police forces in the Caribbean on the back foot, since most officers tend to be unfamiliar with what human trafficking situations can look like. Anecdotal statistics have proven that crimes such as kidnapping, sexual assaults, and others, are often miscategorised, with human trafficking being at the root of some of those crimes, he added.

LaTouche told the forum: “What you find in the region and other places is that law enforcement officers themselves are not familiar trafficking. The statutes, its definition and how to identify it; a lot of times it goes unnoticed by law enforcement because it’s masked as other crimes.

“This issue of human trafficking is real and is a big problem that affects countries, not just in the region but all over. There is a need for more attention to be placed from the authorities and governments to this issue [with] public awareness. We [need] a collaborative effort from all stakeholders to address it.”
(SB)