Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Barbados.htm
Barbados is a
destination country for women from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and
Jamaica trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation; it is also a
destination for men from China, India, and Guyana trafficked for the purpose
of labor exploitation in construction and other sectors. Reports from 2005
indicated that girls and women within Barbados and from other Caribbean
countries were trafficked for the purpose of domestic servitude. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here or a full TIP Re Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Barbados. Some of these links may lead to websites that
present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt
has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking for
material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of particular
interest to you. Would you like to
write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include possible precursors of trafficking such as poverty. There is a lot to the subject
of Trafficking. Scan other countries as
well. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Human trafficking
in Caribbean Net News, www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/2005/03/18/trafficking.shtml [accessed 21 January
2011] Human trafficking
is a reality in ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices: Barbados U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/barbados/
[accessed 11 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The constitution
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government generally
enforced such laws, which was sufficient to deter violations. Although there were
no official reports of forced labor during the year, foreigners–especially
those from neighboring Caribbean nations–remained at risk for forced labor,
particularly in domestic service, agriculture, and construction. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The law prohibits the worst forms of child labor. The law provides for a minimum working age of 16 in certain sectors but does not cover sectors such as agriculture or family businesses. The law prohibits children younger than 18 from engaging in work likely to harm their health, safety, or morals, but it does not specify which occupations fall under this prohibition. The law was effectively enforced, and child labor laws were generally observed. Parents are culpable under the law if their children younger than 16 are not in school. By law children ages 14-16 may engage in light work with parental consent. The law does not provide a list of occupations constituting light work. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/barbados/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS ENJOY
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Residents generally
have access to economic opportunity, and the law provides some protections
against exploitative labor practices. However, nearly 18 percent of the
population lives in poverty. The government has
taken steps to crack down on human trafficking, including police raids,
screening of vulnerable people, training officials to detect possible
trafficking victims, and awareness campaigns. However, there have been no
prosecutions for trafficking since 2013, and government agencies that work on
trafficking-related issues are poorly funded. No big role in
human trafficking Tony Best, Nation
News, 6/17/08 barpublish.bits.baseview.com/291942300309363.php [accessed 4
September 2011] NOT UNTOUCHED - But the island
didn't entirely escape unscathed. It was among the Caribbean countries the
report mentioned as accepting Guyanese as victims of human trafficking. "Reporting
from other (Caribbean) nations suggest Guyanese women and girls are trafficked
for sexual exploitation to neighbouring countries
such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Suriname, Venezuela, and that
Guyanese men and boys are subject to labour
exploitation in construction and agriculture in these same countries. UN reviews
Barbados' Human Rights report Nicholas -- Source:
www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=30579 www.infosud.org/spip.php?breve297 [partial access 21
January 2011] With respect to human
trafficking, the UNHRC wanted to see more policy and legislative responses to
the problem to ensure that victims have access to the provision of support
and assistance. In addition, the State party should criminalise
the trafficking of human beings in consultations with CARICOM, the organisation said. Regional 'hub' for
trafficking www.nationnews.com/story/322339253697505.php [access date
unavailable] The trafficking
of Guyanese women and girls to But Barbados isn't
alone in receiving Guyanese women and teenage girls for the sex trade,
according to the State Department. However, Barbados
wasn't singled out in the document for any special mention as a place that
was central to human trafficking in the Caribbean and Latin America. TACKLE ISSUE: - Earlier this
year, the island had to answer questions about trafficking when a United
Nations human rights panel examined the island's latest human rights report.
Barbados' representative told the experts that authorities back home were
trying to do something about it. Human Rights
Committee Examines Issues Concerning Human Trafficking, Juvenile Justice,
Access To Legal Aid, As It Concludes Review Of Report By Human Rights
Committee, Eighty-ninth Session, 2440th Meeting (AM), 22 March 2007 www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/hrct689.doc.htm [accessed 21 January
2011] Owing
to its geographical location, the So,
on the trafficking question, Barbados’ authorities had met with the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) members and had evolved several initiatives, apart from
information campaigns. Among those had been the establishment of victim
protection programmes for the various jurisdictions involving all the
islands. Steps had also been taken to firm up a task force to deal with
scouting and exploration of the waters of the Caribbean Sea. The matters
had first been brought to the attention of the region at a meeting in Guyana
in April 2005, when the idea of mapping out a regional plan had come into
being. The region also had cooperation with the International
Organization of Migration. He
said, “It troubles us. What more can I say? We are working
actively on it. It is not yet a big problem… but it probably is
happening.” He added, “We are trying to nip it in the bud by
approaching it at a local and regional level.” BPW Barbados collaboration to prevent human trafficking Monica McNeil, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 4
September 2011] BPW Barbados
partners with the Bureau of Gender Affairs in a project sponsored by the International
Organization of Migration (IOM) since year 2005. IOM wanted to alert the
Barbadian Public as to the nature and characteristics of Human Trafficking.
It wanted to put Barbados on guard, to prevent the island from being used as
a point of distribution for human trafficking. A coalition was formed, made
up of representatives of the agencies/organizations. Planning meetings were
held. Three public campaigns were held in Speightswn,
Oistins and Bridgetown. In 2006, two officers of
IOM came to the island and conducted a workshop on Human Trafficking, its
implications and ramifications. The outcome of the workshop was that
participants arranged to set up mechanisms to do empirical research and to
set up a watch- dog operation to scrutinize events or actions that resembled
human trafficking and report to IOM. The Protection Project - Barbados The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/barbados.doc [accessed 2009] www.protectionproject.org/country-reports/ [accessed 22
February 2016] FACTORS
THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE – An increase in tourism to the island nation has reportedly
resulted in an increase in sex tourism. Furthermore, the seaport in the
capital, Bridgetown, provides a steady demand for commercial sex. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** 2017 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 20 April 2018 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/wha/277307.htm
[accessed 17 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/barbados/ [accessed 17 March
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Although there were
no official reports of forced labor during the year, foreigners remained at risk
for forced labor, especially in the domestic service, agriculture, and
construction sectors. The punishment for labor or sex trafficking of adults
is the same: 25 years in prison, a fine of one million BBD ($500,000), or
both. Labor or sex trafficking of children is punished by a fine of two
million BBD (one million dollars), life imprisonment, or both. There were no
prosecutions in recent years. Human Rights
Reports » 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78879.htm [accessed 6 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The constitution and laws do not specifically prohibit trafficking in
persons. Although laws against slavery, forced labor or other crimes could be
applied, no trafficking cases were prosecuted. There were reports that
persons were trafficked to the country. A 2005 assessment
by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that persons
were trafficked both to work as prostitutes and as domestic workers. Persons
also reportedly were trafficked to work in the construction and garment
industries, where they were subject to low wages and false contracts. The IOM
noted that in cases where trafficking may have occurred, the government
typically deported the persons suspected of being trafficked and failed to
investigate or prosecute the alleged traffickers. The government has no dedicated
facilities to assist victims and does not provide funding to antitrafficking NGOs. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
