Barbados HAS BEEN put on a human trafficking “watch list”.Against a backdrop of reported cases of child prostitution, domestic servitude, stepfathers and other adults coercing children into “transactional sex”, and the involvement of Guyanese criminals linking with Barbadian and Trinidadian pimps to lure foreign women into the country with offers of legitimate jobs, Barbados has been placed on a tier two “watch list” reserved for countries that don’t comply with minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.Alongside these alarming and depressing charges about Barbados in the United States State Department’s annual global report on human trafficking – released on Monday – the report said Barbados was “making significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking” but the Government’s approach to the problem was “weak”, especially when it came to prosecuting trafficking, raising public awareness of the risks and dangers in trafficking, and taking steps to end it. Law enforcement “The Barbados Government made no discernible progress in its anti-human trafficking law enforcement efforts during the year,” Washington charged.“Law enforcement agencies faced resource constraints and competing priorities. No trafficking offenders were prosecuted during the year. No cases were brought against employers for confiscating passports or travel documents. Barbados has no specific law prohibiting human trafficking, but slavery and forced labour are constitutionally prohibited,” added the State Department.Among the litany of trafficking woes which led to Barbados’ relegation to the “watch list”, a group that includes Singapore, Guyana, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize, Venezuela, Senegal, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Algeria, Afghanistan, Tunisia and Sri Lanka were:• “Transactional sex” within families that enable parents and other adults to benefit “from a child’s participation in sexual activity”.• Women from Guyana, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic enter Barbados voluntarily but illegally to engage in prostitution. Others find themselves being coerced into involuntary domestic servitude in private homes.• The existence of massage parlours, private residences and entertainment as worksites for victims of trafficking.• Foreign men being brought to the country and then exploited in construction and other sectors of the labour market.• Threats of physical violence or deportation, the use of debt bondage, false contracts and psychological abuse, not to mention confinement in order to get foreign men and women to work in a variety of fields, including the garment industry.• Summary deportation of undocumented foreigners by the Government without determining if they were victims of trafficking.Although the nation’s Minister of Youth, Family and Sport has spoken out against child prostitution on several occasions, there was no significant improvement in the situation facing victims. What is needed The State Department wants Barbados to enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking law; aggressively investigate cases of suspected trafficking; and haul abusers before the nation’s courts. It also urged Government to develop a national plan to identify, combat and prevent trafficking.The report acknowledged that Government had launched a vigorous public campaign to educate people about the dangers of trafficking, and had begun drafting proposed legislation to deal with the nightmare – but it had not done nearly enough.The countries with the best trafficking records are found in North America and Europe, according to the report. The countries with the worst trafficking records are found in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The Dominican Republic was given the worst rating: tier three. (TB)
