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 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 |
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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 [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. 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 - St. Vincent & the Grenadines",
http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/StVincent&Grenadines.htm, [accessed
<date>] |
