Human trafficking in Jamaica

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Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for adults and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. [1]

Contents

Domestically, most victims are impoverished women and children enticed from rural parts of the country to metropolitan areas by family members or newspaper classified job postings for spa attendants, masseurs, or exotic dancers. [2] After they are recruited, victims are coerced into prostitution. Sex tourism in resort areas has been identified as a problem.

Jamaica is reported to be a destination country for women trafficked from the Dominican Republic, Russia, Eastern Europe, Cuba, to work in the sex trade. [2] Some Jamaican women and girls have been trafficked to Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, and other Caribbean destinations for commercial sexual exploitation. [3]

While the Government of Jamaica and numerous NGOs have endeavored to combat the problem, the response is widely viewed as lacking and inadequate.

U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017. [4]

Modes of victimization

The majority of victims are poor Jamaican women and girls, and increasingly boys, who were trafficked from rural to urban and tourist areas for commercial sexual exploitation. Victims are typically recruited by family members or newspaper advertisements promoting work as spa attendants, masseuses, or dancers. After being recruited, victims are coerced into prostitution. Jamaican children also might be subjected to conditions of forced labor as domestic servants. Sex tourism in resort areas has been identified as a problem.

Some trafficking of women from the Dominican Republic, Russia, Eastern Europe, Cuba, and Haiti into Jamaica's sex trade has been reported. [2] Some Jamaican women and girls have been trafficked to Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, and other Caribbean destinations for commercial sexual exploitation. [3]

Efforts to combat human trafficking in Jamaica

The Government of Jamaica has undertaken efforts to combat human trafficking in the country. In 2016, the country was upgraded from a "Tier 2 Watch List" ranking to "Tier 2." [5] Despite these efforts and accomplishments, the United States Department of State, in its 2016 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, characterized these efforts as not fully meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. [1] [6] Nevertheless, members of the Jamaican Government have complained that differences in the criteria used to determine what crimes constitute trafficking in persons as opposed to, for instance, sexual exploitation, cause the TIP Report to paint an inaccurate portrait of the state of human trafficking in the country and the government's efforts to combat it. [6]

Prosecution

Between 2007 and 2012, about 16 convictions for crimes constituting Trafficking in Persons were secured. [6]

The Government of Jamaica maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the US State Department's reporting period, but did not punish any trafficking offenders. Legislatively, the government prohibits all forms of trafficking through its comprehensive Trafficking in Persons Act, which became effective on 1 March 2007, and which prescribes penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment, penalties that are sufficiently stringent. This law also prohibits holding a person's passport as a means of keeping an individual in labor or service. During the reporting period, the government charged four suspects with trafficking under its new law; these cases remain pending, in addition to six prosecutions from the previous year. The government did not convict or sentence any traffickers during the reporting period. The government also dedicated six police officers to the National Task Force against Trafficking in Persons, an inter-agency body that coordinates anti-trafficking activities, and reconstituted the organized-crime division of its police force to focus more attention on human trafficking crimes. A vetted police Airport Interdiction Task Force, created through a memorandum of understanding between Jamaica and the United States in 2005, investigates cases of drug trafficking and human trafficking at ports of entry. In conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), several police, consular, and judicial officials received anti-trafficking training. No reports of official complicity with human trafficking were received in 2007. [3]

In 2016, after a case of suspected jury interference, the director of public prosecutions recommended that individuals charged with human trafficking be tried by judge only. [7]

Prevention

The Trafficking in Persons, Prevention, Suppression and Punishment Act became law in Jamaica in 2007, with the goal of identifying, sanctioning, and preventing human trafficking, and to assist and protecting vulnerable potential victims as well as those rescued from captivity. [7] [8]

In 2014, C-TOC undertook an operation named 'Operation ID-Fix' with the goal of identifying links between sex shops and massage parlours and human trafficking, leading to the arrest of 41 individuals, including a proprietor, sex workers, and patrons. [9] The campaign encompassed 31 tactical operations and identified and rescued 12 victims. [10]

In 2015, the Jamaica Constabulary Force implemented its Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime (C-TOC) Investigation Branch with a unit dedicated to combating trafficking in persons. [11]

Protection

During the State Department's reporting period, it was found that the government showed limited efforts to provide victims with access to medical, psychological, legal, or witness protection services. Specialized shelters for trafficking victims, especially for victims of commercial sexual exploitation, remained unavailable, although child trafficking victims had access to generalized government shelters for care. Shelter services for adult victims were said to be lacking, although adult victims were sometimes housed in hotels or other temporary facilities. Pursuant to its anti-trafficking statute, Jamaican authorities encouraged victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers. Victims were not penalized for immigration violations or other unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Jamaica provided temporary residency for foreign trafficking victims and other legal alternatives to deportation to countries where victims would face hardship or retribution. In 2007, the government assisted IOM's repatriation of a trafficking victim from Burma who had been exploited for five years as a domestic servant. [3]

Prevention in this Activity The government increased anti-trafficking prevention activities during the period covered by the US State Department report. Government officials condemned human trafficking in public statements and presentations, in addition to warning more than 250 students about the dangers of human trafficking. Anti-trafficking flyers and materials were disseminated widely. The government also tightened issuance of exotic dancer permits to Jamaican hotel establishments, and eliminated their use in night clubs. Efforts to identify victims of trafficking among holders of these permits were intensified during the reporting period, and the government reduced the total number of permits to eight. The report suggested that increased government collaboration with Jamaica's hotel and tourism industry would assist efforts to prevent child sex tourism in resort areas; despite reported sexual exploitation of Jamaican children by foreign tourists, no investigations or prosecutions of such suspected criminal activity were reported by the government. The report recognized the government's efforts to address the demand for commercial sex acts by conducting high-profile raids on hotels and nightclubs. [3]

Related Research Articles

Suriname is principally a destination and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. It is also a source country for underage Surinamese girls, and increasingly boys, trafficked internally for sexual exploitation. Some of these children are trafficked into the sex trade surrounding gold mining camps in the country’s interior. Foreign girls and women from Guyana, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia are trafficked into Suriname for commercial sexual exploitation; some transit Suriname en route to Europe. Chinese men are subjected to possible debt bondage in Suriname, and are subject to forced labor in supermarkets and the construction sector. Chinese women reportedly are exploited sexually in massage parlors and brothels. Haitian migrants, typically en route to French Guiana, sometimes are forced to work in Surinamese agriculture. The Government of Suriname does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government sustained a moderate level of law enforcement action against trafficking crimes, and modestly improved victim assistance and prevention efforts. However, official complicity with suspected trafficking activity is an area for concern.

The Government of Sweden fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking. Beginning in July 2007, all foreign victims of trafficking were granted temporary residence permits for a minimum 30-day reflection period to consider whether to cooperate with law enforcement. In December 2007, the government adopted a national action plan on child sexual exploitation, improved awareness on trafficking issues, and increased internal and international cooperation to combat child sex tourism. The government continued to fund both awareness and victim assistance programs in trafficking source countries.

Switzerland is primarily a destination and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for women trafficked from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Cambodia, Nigeria, and Cameroon for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Swiss authorities noted an increase in the number of women trafficked from Eastern Europe, specifically Romania, for sexual exploitation. Limited cases of trafficking for the purpose of domestic servitude and labor exploitation also were reported. According to the U.S. Government's 2011 Trafficking in Persons report, Switzerland was rated in "Tier 2" for its efforts against human trafficking because it does not fully comply with international minimum requirements but is making "significant efforts to do so". However, the 2014 Trafficking in Persons report indicates that Switzerland is a "Tier 1" country, indicating that the government "fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking." For 2023 it's back to "Tier 2".

Tanzania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Boys are trafficked within the country for forced labor on farms, in mines, and in the informal business sector. Tanzanian girls from rural areas are trafficked to urban centers and the island of Zanzibar for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; some domestic workers fleeing abusive employers fall prey to forced prostitution. In some regions, unregistered employment agencies are involved in recruiting minors from rural areas to work as domestic helpers in the capital, where they are subject to exploitation. Tanzanian children and adults are reportedly trafficked to other countries including Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy and China. Trafficked children from Burundi and Kenya, as well as adults from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Yemen, are trafficked for forced labor in Tanzania's mining, agricultural and domestic service sectors, and are sometimes also subjected to sex trafficking. The Government of Tanzania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

Uruguay is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are women, girls, and some boys trafficked within the country to border and tourist areas for sexual exploitation. A government agency has found that families had facilitated the exploitation of many children in prostitution. Impoverished parents reportedly turn over their children for domestic and agricultural servitude in rural areas. Some Uruguayan women have been trafficked to Spain and Italy for sexual exploitation. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

Uzbekistan is a source country for women and girls who are trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Kazakhstan, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Costa Rica for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Men are trafficked to Kazakhstan and Russia for purposes of forced labor in the construction, cotton and tobacco industries. Men and women are also trafficked internally for the purposes of domestic servitude, forced labor in the agricultural and construction industries, and for commercial sexual exploitation. Many school-age children are forced to work in the cotton harvest each year.

Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

Zambia is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Child prostitution exists in Zambia's urban centers, often encouraged or facilitated by relatives or acquaintances of the victim. Many Zambian child laborers, particularly those in the agriculture, domestic service, and fishing sectors, are also victims of human trafficking. Zambian women, lured by false employment or marriage offers, are trafficked to South Africa via Zimbabwe for sexual exploitation, and to Europe via Malawi. Zambia is a transit point for regional trafficking of women and children, particularly from Angola to Namibia for agricultural labor and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa. Malawian and Mozambican adults and children are occasionally trafficked to Zambia for forced agricultural labor.

Honduras is principally a source and transit country for women, girls, and boys trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Honduran children are typically trafficked from rural areas to urban and tourist centers such as San Pedro Sula, the North Caribbean coast, and the Bay Islands. Honduran women and children are trafficked to Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the United States for sexual exploitation. Most foreign victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Honduras are from neighboring countries; some are economic migrants en route to the United States who are victimized by traffickers. Internal child labor and forced child labor for violent criminal gangs are serious concerns.

Kazakhstan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan to Kazakhstan and on to Russia and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) for purposes of sex slavery and forced labor in the construction and agricultural industries. Kazakhstani men and women are trafficked internally and to the U.A.E., Azerbaijan, Turkey, Israel, Greece, Russia, and Germany and the United States for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation.

The Kyrgyz Republic is a source, transit, and to a lesser extent a destination country for men and women trafficked from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan for purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Men and women are trafficked to Kazakhstan for forced agricultural labor—mainly in tobacco fields—to Russia for forced construction work, and to China for bonded labor. Kyrgyz and foreign women are trafficked to the U.A.E., China, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand, Germany, and Syria for sexual exploitation.

Lithuania is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. In 2008, it was estimated by the U.S. Department of State that approximately 21 percent of Lithuanian trafficking victims were underage girls. Lithuanian women were trafficked within the country and to the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands. Women from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine are trafficked to and through Lithuania for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Albania is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor, including the forced begging of children. Albanian victims are subjected to conditions of forced labor and sex trafficking within Albania and Italy, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Western Europe. Approximately half of the victims referred for care within the country in 2009 were Albanian; these were primarily women and girls subjected to conditions of forced prostitution in hotels and private residences in Tirana, Durres, Elbasan, and Vlora. Children were primarily exploited for begging and other forms of forced labor. There is evidence that Albanian men have been subjected to conditions of forced labor in the agricultural sector of Greece and other neighboring countries.

Austria is a destination and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.

Barbados is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Some children in Barbados are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in “transactional sex” wherein a third party such as a parent receives a benefit from the child's participation in sexual activity. Researchers identified patterns of transactional sex within families, most often by adult male caretakers such as step-fathers, as well as child prostitution outside the home. Women from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Jamaica voluntarily enter Barbados as illegal migrants, and some expect to engage in prostitution. Some of these women are exploited in forced prostitution subsequent to their arrival. Some other foreign women who entered the country illegally are exploited in involuntary domestic servitude in private homes. Foreign men have been transported to Barbados for the purpose of labor exploitation in construction and other sectors. Sex traffickers, primarily organized criminals from Guyana, form partnerships with pimps and brothel owners from Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, and lure women to Barbados with offers of legitimate work. Trafficking victims tend to enter the country through legal means, usually by air; traffickers later use force and coercion to obtain and maintain the victims' work in strip clubs, massage parlors, some private residences, and “entertainment clubs” which operate as brothels. Traffickers use methods such as threats of physical harm or deportation, debt bondage, false contracts, psychological abuse, and confinement to force victims to work in construction, the garment industry, agriculture, or private households.

Belgium is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Victims originate in Eastern Europe, Africa, East Asia, as well as Brazil and India. Some victims are smuggled through Belgium to other European countries, where they are subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution. Male victims are subjected to forced labor and exploitation in restaurants, bars, sweatshops, horticulture sites, fruit farms, construction sites, and retail shops. There were reportedly seven Belgian women subjected to forced prostitution in Luxembourg in 2009. According to a 2009 ECPAT Report, the majority of girls and children subjected to forced prostitution in Belgium originate from Balkan and CIS countries, Eastern Europe, Asia and West Africa ; some young foreign boys are exploited in prostitution in major cities in the country. Local observers also report that a large portion of children trafficked in Belgium are unaccompanied, vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees. Criminal organizations from Thailand use Thai massage parlors in Belgium, which are run by Belgian managers, to sexually exploit young Thai women. These networks are involved in human smuggling and trafficking to exploit victims economically and sexually. Belgium is not only a destination country, but also a transit country for children to be transported to other European country destinations.

Peru is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Several thousand persons are estimated to be subjected to conditions of forced labor within Peru, mainly in mining, logging, agriculture, brick making, and domestic servitude. Many trafficking victims are women and girls from impoverished rural regions of the Amazon, recruited and coerced into prostitution in urban nightclubs, bars, and brothels, often through false employment offers or promises of education. Indigenous persons are particularly vulnerable to debt bondage. Forced child labor remains a problem, particularly in informal gold mines, cocaine production, and transportation. There were reports the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, recruited children as soldiers and drug mules. To a lesser extent, Peruvians are subjected to forced prostitution in Ecuador, Spain, Italy, Japan, and the United States, and forced labor in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Peru also is a destination country for some Ecuadorian and Bolivian females in forced prostitution, and some Bolivian citizens in conditions of forced labor. Child sex tourism is present in Iquitos, Madre de Dios, and Cuzco. Traffickers reportedly operate with impunity in certain regions where there is little or no government presence. In 2006, International Labour Organisation estimated that there were 33,000 people in conditions of forced labor in the Peruvian Amazon, primarily in the regions of Ucayali, Madre de Dios, Loreto, Pucallpa, Atalaya and Puerto Maldonado.

Greece is a transit, source and destination country for women and children who are subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution and conditions of forced labor for men, women, and children. Female sex trafficking victims originate primarily in Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries. Traffickers use physical, emotional, and sexual abuse for coercion. Greece's European Union membership, coupled with a shared border with Turkey, means the country sees massive flows of illegal immigrants looking to enter the EU. Traffickers also use Greece not only as a destination but also as transit stop and also as a source country where even Greek women are prostituted on the way to Western Europe.

Guinea is a source, transit, and to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically in the areas of forced labor and forced prostitution. The majority of victims are children, and these incidents of trafficking are more prevalent among Guinean citizens than among foreign migrants living in Guinea. Within the country, girls are largely subjected to involuntary domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are subjected to forced begging and forced labor as street vendors, shoe shiners, and laborers in gold and diamond mines. Some Guinean men are also subjected to forced agricultural labor within Guinea. Smaller numbers of girls from Mali, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau migrate to Guinea, where they are subjected to involuntary domestic servitude and likely also commercial sexual exploitation. Some Guinean boys and girls are subjected to forced labor in gold mining operations in Senegal, Mali, and possibly other African countries. Guinean women and girls are subjected to involuntary domestic servitude and forced prostitution in Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Greece, and Spain. Chinese women are trafficked to Guinea for commercial sexual exploitation by Chinese traffickers. Networks also traffic women from Nigeria, India, and Greece through Guinea to the Maghreb and onward to Europe, notably Italy, Ukraine, Switzerland, and France for forced prostitution and involuntary domestic servitude.

Human trafficking in Brazil is an ongoing problem. Brazil is a source country for men, women, girls, and boys subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution within the country and abroad, as well as a source country for men and boys in forced labor within the country. The United States Department of Homeland Security, describes human trafficking as "the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."

References

  1. 1 2 "2016 Trafficking in Persons Report Country Narrative: Jamaica". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Simms, Glenda (11 May 2008). "Human trafficking: modern-day slavery". Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jamaica". Trafficking in Persons Report 2008. U.S. Department of State (4 June 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "Jamaica's human trafficking rank upgraded". Jamaica Observer. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Hill, Tameka (December 2016). "An Investigation into the State's Response to the Trafficking of Women and Girls in Jamaica" (PDF). Caribbean Review of Gender Studies. 10: 127–136.
  7. 1 2 "Judge-only trials for accused human traffickers". Jamaica Observer. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  8. ↑ Barnes, Annmarie. "Jamaica". Organization of American States. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "New report to be published linking sex shops and massage parlours". Nationwide Newsnet. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  10. ↑ Irving, Shelly-Ann (10 May 2016). "Operation Uplift to Boost Trafficking in Persons Fight". Jamaica Information Service. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "JCF officially forms Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation (C-TOC) Branch". Jamaica Observer. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
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