Antigua and Barbuda has received a tier two ranking on the international ranking system for human trafficking.
This means the government do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.
However, John McKinnon, a member of the local Trafficking in Persons Prevention Committee, justified the ranking saying, ” it is very difficult to convict people for human trafficking in Antigua and Barbuda for several reasons” .
“The investigations are quite protracted…we have to work with similar agencies in the source country and we have to be gathering information,” he explained.
McKinnon said most victims are repatriated to their original country.
“We have never had a victim who has elected to remain in Antigua and Barbuda. So, when the case is called, we have to track down that victim and getting them to come back to testify has proven difficult in the past,” he added.
Laws were recently amended to allow virtual court testimonies, a decision that McKinnon said will help “tremendously”.
“We have made a lot of progress but until we have at least one conviction, it is going to be extremely difficult to get to tier one,” he said.
Tier one means the governments fully comply with the US Act’s minimum standards.
According to the latest Trafficking in Persons Report from the US State Department, a small number of women from Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic are brought to Antigua and Barbuda, specifically for forced prostitution.
To a lesser extent, the report said Antigua and Barbuda is reportedly also a destination country for women subjected to involuntary domestic servitude in private homes.
“Most of the human trafficking victims are women and most of the cases that we have seen here are sexual exploitation. We have had one recent domestic servitude case and that too was a female,” McKinnon said.
The detailed report also claimed that business people from the Dominican Republic, along with Antiguan citizens acting as pimps and brothel owners, subject foreign women to forced prostitution primarily in four illegal brothels that operate in Antigua as well as in private residences that double up as brothels.
Some of these foreign women, according to the report, voluntarily migrate to Antigua to engage in prostitution but are subsequently subjected to force or coercion and become victims of sex trafficking.
And, after their arrival, brothel managers confiscate their passports and threaten the victims with deportation until they repay the brothel owner for travel and other expenses they were not aware they had incurred.
Some other foreign victims of sex trafficking enter the country legally with work permits as “entertainers” then are subsequently forced to engage in prostitution, the report stated.
McKinnon is advising victims of human trafficking to reach out to the authorities who are ready and able to assist them.
“Call any police station. Walk into the station. Dial 911. Once a victim is identified we are responsible for their protection and meeting their needs, whether its food, lodging, counselling, healthcare…we look after everything,” he added.
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Ofcourse we got a low rating. When it comes to sexual assault Victims or protecting or women or children and transgenders ..Antigua is a joke! The laws are outdated and most almost 30 years old. ANTIGUA DOES NOT PUT A VALUE ON HUMAN LIFE. CHILD RAPIST ARE GETTING PROBATION while if you steal a tin of sardine your get more time in jail.
ALL THESE GIRLS 11, 12 , 13… adult men and taking them to their houses and raping them and they are getting just a few months in jail and can continue to be around other children to repeat the cycle.
ANTIGUA MUST CHANGE THE LAWS AND PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.
The people perish in many cases not for lack of knowledge, but rather for cheer outright sinfulness.
I cannot emphasize enough that every human being that has ever and will ever walk the face of this earth; will one day soon stand before the judgement throne of the Great Creator God, to give account for our stewardship of this life. My friends, we may think that all our evil acts are hidden from mankind, but every thought, word and action are recorded and will be brought to light at that time.
It is time to wake up out of your slumber……. God is patient.
There is a very foolish slang that states: ” Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad”
Firstly, there is only one God and secondly, that God does not wish to destroy anyone. It is we who go about willfully and willingly living in ways that are destructive to ourselves and others.
The cry still goes out to all who will hear and take heed: Wake up, my people. All who are involved in the trafficking of humans; your day will come. You will have to answer for your actions. The fleeting temporary gain that you obtain now is but VANITY ! Do you prefer to live in this corruption and then be judged for your evil ways or to change and follow the right way ?
The choice is yours. The legal system of man may not be able to provide justice for your victims, but rest assured that the JUSTICE OF GOD NEVER FAILS.
Wake up, you fools !
WORLD “CRYSIS”: END SOON COME !
This ranking is not acceptable. The society must demand the Government tackle this problem with power. The judges also need to judge righteously. Pedophiles are sick puppies that need to be incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives. They also need to be castrated, by court order, of course. This whole mess needs to be cleaned up. If there really are brothels operating in this country, the question is why that would be allowed. The rule of law would make that impossible. Shut them down, lock the guilty ones up, seize their property, expose them publicly (including pictures), put them to open shame. FREE THE SLAVES. MASSA DAY DONE HERE. There should be a nationwide outcry. Where the heck are the churches? Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical, Moravian, wayside churches, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostals, everybody! SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER.
Before we get all reactionary, ask yourselves who does the ranking of such issues? I was watching an American made documentary just this week on the trafficking of children to be used as slaves. To my shock it was stated that the country with the worst record for child trafficking was the USA!!! Hahaha. So much for s-hole countries!
Will someone stop playing fiddle with truth? The challenge to readers to research US status regarding the human, especially children, trafficking worldwide came from Anon the 1st not from the name-thief Anon who decided to leech on to that name for reasons still unclear to me. Moderators! You should not be allowed to encourage this!!
If your prostitution laws are relaxed and hoes can just walk around and sell ass, pimps and organized crime will flourish in your country. That’s how it works.
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