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/Antigua&Barbuda.htm
Antigua and Barbuda
is a destination country for women trafficked from Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica,
and the Dominican Republic for the purposes of sexual exploitation; it may
also be a destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of forced
domestic servitude. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Antigua &
Barbuda. 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 *** Assessing human
trafficking in Antigua and Barbuda UN Human Settlements
Programme (UN-HABITAT), Antigua And Barbuda:
National Urban Profile, 2011 [accessed 11
September 2014] [page 21] The victims
identified by the US in Antigua and Barbuda’s case were women trafficked from
Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, for the purposes of
sexual exploitation and forced domestic servitude. The report further stated that
well-financed businessmen who act as pimps and brothel owners traffic women
into the four main, illegal brothels that operate in Antigua, as well as to
private residences that operate as brothels In its assessment
of Antigua and Barbuda, the TIP 2009 Report indicated that brothel managers
confiscated passports and threatened women with deportation until they repay
the brothel owner for travel and other expenses. Pointing to systemic causes,
the report further stated that some victims trafficked for the purpose of
sexual exploitation had been given work permits as "entertainers"
to legally enter the country. The
reality is that victims enter the country both legally and illegally. They
hold legitimate documents authorising them to work
in various fields However, it is
important to note that not all women and men brought in to Antigua and
Barbuda or transported throughout the Caribbean to work within the sex trade
are victims of human trafficking. For many, sex work is a choice, albeit a
quite complicated and socially and economically complex one. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Antigua and Barbuda 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/antigua-and-barbuda/ [accessed 10 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government effectively enforced the law when specific complaints were filed. The Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy investigates cases of trafficking in persons, including forced labor allegations. The law prescribes penalties of 20 to 30 years’ imprisonment and significant fines. Forced labor occurred in domestic service and the retail sector, particularly in family-owned businesses. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Laws contain definitions that collectively prohibit the worst forms of child labor, but specific details are not in any single statute. The government enforced child labor laws effectively, and there were no reports of child labor law violations during the year. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/antigua-and-barbuda/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Antigua and Barbuda
is a destination and transit country for the trafficking of men, women, and
children for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Government
efforts to address the problem are inadequate, but progress is being made,
according to the US State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons report.
Compulsory labor is prohibited by law. Gender stereotyping and discrimination
can make employment challenging for women. Mental health services require
improvement and physically disabled people are stigmatized and underemployed. In September 2019,
the Industrial Court ruled against Antigua and Barbuda’s Department of
Immigration, confirming that it has been breaching the rights of its workers
for at least the last two decades, during which time the department did not
paid employees for sick days, holidays worked, and overtime. Security minister
calls for regional conference on human trafficking Antigua Observer
News, 9 June 2012 antiguaobserver.com/security-minister-calls-for-regional-conference-on-human-trafficking/ [accessed 11
September 2014] During his remarks,
Dr Cort focused on the
victims of human trafficking, saying that there was a need to reorient our
thinking and view of persons who are victims of trafficking and there was a
need to put measures in place to look after these victims. IOM Regional
Coordination Officer Rui Oliveira Reis, in his
remarks, said that the IOM recognised that Antigua
& Barbuda is committed to combating human trafficking, and as such, they
have seen significant progress on the island. He said the IOM would continue
to support the island in this area, as well as other areas such as boarder
management control and labour and migration. The Protection
Project - Antigua [DOC] The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/antigua.doc [accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING – Available data
suggest that trafficking occurs primarily for the purpose of prostitution.
Sex tourism is also part of the trafficking infrastructure in Antigua and
Barbuda. There are reports of
trafficking in children for commercial sexual exploitation and pornography.
In 2001, the police arrested and charged four people in connection with an
ongoing investigation into an alleged child prostitution and pornography
ring. Girls as young as 13 were allegedly being sexually exploited. The ring
was discovered after one of the girls was forced to have an abortion. ***
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/277301.htm
[accessed 12 March 2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/antigua-and-barbuda/ [accessed 24 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The law prohibits
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, but there were reports of forced
labor, including in domestic service and the retail industry. The government effectively
enforced the law. The government amended the labor code to allow the labor
inspectorate authority to enter residences to investigate allegations of
forced or compulsory labor. The Office of
National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy investigates
cases of trafficking in persons, including forced labor allegations.
Authorities removed at least one individual from a forced labor situation
during the year. The law prescribes penalties of 20 to 30 years’ imprisonment
with fines not to exceed $400,000 XCD ($148,150). These penalties were
sufficiently stringent to deter violations. Human Rights
Reports » 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/wha/119144.htm [accessed 17 March
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– There are no laws that specifically address trafficking in persons, and there
were occasional reports of trafficking in women to the country. There were a
number of brothels, which were staffed mostly by women from various Caribbean
countries who traveled to the country as "entertainers" or
"dancers." In some cases brothel owners reportedly retained their
documents to exert influence over the victims. However, authorities usually
deported the women immediately, before information on possible trafficking
could be obtained. There were two known
cases during the year in which persons were trafficked to the country to work
in local brothels. Authorities deported one victim and the other voluntarily
returned to her home country with the support of the Bureau of Gender
Affairs. In neither case were charges brought against the brothel
owners. 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 – Antigua
& Barbuda", http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/ |
