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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/StVincent&Grenadines.htm

St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Success of the economy hinges upon seasonal variations in agriculture, tourism, and construction activity as well as remittance inflows. Much of the workforce is employed in banana production and tourism, but persistent high unemployment has prompted many to leave the islands. This lower-middle-income country is vulnerable to natural disasters - tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002. In 2007, the islands had more than 200,000 tourist arrivals, mostly to the Grenadines.

The government's ability to invest in social programs and respond to external shocks is constrained by its high debt burden - 25% of current revenues are directed towards debt servicing.  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Description: Description: StVincent&Grenadines

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a potential source country for children trafficked internally for the purposes of sexual exploitation; it may also be a destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Anecdotal reporting suggests the number of victims trafficked in, to, or through St. Vincent and the Grenadines is comparatively small. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009   Check out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here

 

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.  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 precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. 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 Concerns in the Commonwealth Caribbean: the 2009 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report in focus [PDF]

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) London, 24 June 2009

www.humanrightsinitiative.org/london/hr_in_caribbean/human_trafficking_in_the_caribbean_june_2009.pdf

[accessed 25 December 2010]

ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

7. This the first time that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been mentioned in a TIP report. Although the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines deny any problem with trafficking of persons, the TIP report places St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the Watch List.  Due to lack of available information into the full extent of trafficking, the TIP Report relies on anecdotal reporting, which suggests that human trafficking does occur but on a small scale. The TIP report states that neither the government nor NGOs have conducted any investigations into human trafficking nor is it discussed as political issue.

8. This lack of substantiated information is problematic, as it belies the actual extent of trafficking. Furthermore, lack of information allows for the official sidestepping, even denial of the issue. Indeed, the lack of investigation and information on human trafficking in St. Vincent and the Grenadines reflects the lack of comprehensive domestic antitrafficking law enforcement and protection and prevention policies. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has no specific law prohibiting the trafficking in persons.

 

*** ARCHIVES ***

2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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/saint-vincent-and-the-grenadines/

[accessed 25 June 2021]

PROHIBITION OF FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR

While there were no forced labor investigations during the year, civil society representatives reported that a small number of persons–including minors–remained vulnerable to forced labor in underground economic activities in the drug trade and prostitution.

PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT

There were no reported complaints related to child labor.

Freedom House Country Report

2020 Edition

freedomhouse.org/country/st-vincent-and-grenadines/freedom-world/2020

[accessed 23 July 2020]

G4. DO INDIVIDUALS ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION?

Individuals generally enjoy personal social freedoms. People entering same-sex partnerships enjoy most of the rights conferred by marriage but cannot adopt children or undergo in-vitro fertilization procedures. Marriage is still legally defined as a union between a man and a woman. Domestic violence is illegal, but remains a concern in practice. Up to 1,300 cases are reported annually, though nearly all reported cases are investigated.

G3. DO INDIVIDUALS ENJOY PERSONAL SOCIAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING CHOICE OF MARRIAGE PARTNER AND SIZE OF FAMILY, PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND CONTROL OVER APPEARANCE?

Individual rights with respect to personal status matters like marriage and divorce are generally protected by law, though same-sex marriage is not recognized. The Domestic Violence Act of 2015, which went into effect in 2016 and provides for protective orders, offers some tools and resources to victims of domestic violence. However, such violence remains a serious and widespread problem, as does sexual assault.

2017 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2018

www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf

[accessed 22 April 2019]

www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf

[accessed 5 May 2020]

Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL Worst Forms of Child Labor

[page 846]

Limited research and information received from various sources suggests that some children in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, including by their relatives, in exchange for money or goods. (13; 7; 14; 15).

Guyana, St Vincent object to human trafficking report

Caribbean360 News, Kingstown, St Vincent, June 19, 2009

www.caribbean360.com/news/guyana-st-vincent-object-to-human-trafficking-report

[accessed 10 September 2014]

Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told Parliament yesterday that he was so upset by the country being placed in the second tier watch list in the department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, that he had written to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressing the government's displeasure and had also held discussions with the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States Embassy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Brent Hardt.

"There is no evidential basis for the placement of St Vincent and the Grenadines on any such watch list," he said, adding that the State Department had acted unfairly and arbitrarily and that whoever prepared the report did so based on "hearsay, unreliable information and some mischief making possibly by some busy-bodies".   "St Vincent does not have trafficking of persons," Gonsalves insisted.

The Protection Project - St. Vincent & Grenadines [DOC]

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/vincent.doc

[accessed 2009]

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - The growth of the sex tourism industry in the Caribbean and Central America sparks the demand for women in prostitution and fuels the trafficking of women and children in the region.

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation is a growing concern in the entire Caribbean region. Millions of children in the region are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, sex tourism, pornography, underage domestic labor, and trafficking.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES - The constitution of St. Vincent and the Grenadines prohibits slavery and forced labor.   The Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act of 1935 (as revised in 1990) makes the employment of children in industrial undertakings and ships illegal.  Use of children and women for night work also is prohibited. The act defines a child as a person younger than 14 years.

*** EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE ***

Human Rights Reports » 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 25, 2009

2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/wha/119173.htm

[accessed 11 February 2020]

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The law does not address trafficking in persons specifically, nor does the government have any specific programs to do so.   Several Nepalese nationals were trafficked to the country with the promise of work permits in Canada and the United States, but the government returned them all to Nepal. There were no other reports that persons were trafficked to, from, within, or through the country.

SECTION 6 WORKER RIGHTS – [c] The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no reports that such practices occurred.

The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor [PDF]

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2007

www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/tda/tda2006/Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines.pdf

[accessed 25 December 2010]

Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL Worst Forms of Child Labor

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There is concern that child prostitution is becoming a larger problem in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - Research has not identified any policies or programs by the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to address exploitive child labor.

Freedom House Country Report

2018 Edition

freedomhouse.org/country/st-vincent-and-grenadines/freedom-world/2018

[accessed 5 May 2020]

G4. DO INDIVIDUALS ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION?

Safety and other protections for workers are typically upheld. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act of 2011 criminalizes forced labor, but the government is not sufficiently proactive in its response, according to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report.

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Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - St. Vincent & the Grenadines", http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/StVincent&Grenadines.htm, [accessed <date>]