2011 Trafficking in Persons Report - Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago (Tier 2)

Trinidad and Tobago is a destination, source, and transit country for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking and adults subjected to forced labor. Some women and girls from South America and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in Trinbagonian brothels and clubs. Trinbagonian teenagers enticed into providing sex acts for shelter or material goods by local men are a high risk group for sex trafficking. Economic migrants from the region and from Asia may be vulnerable to forced labor. Some companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago reportedly hold the passports of foreign employees, a common indicator of human trafficking, until departure. Trafficking victims from Trinidad and Tobago have in the past been identified in the United Kingdom and the United States. As a hub for regional travel, Trinidad and Tobago also is a potential transit point for trafficking victims traveling to Caribbean and South American destinations.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated some progress during the reporting period, most notably by formalizing and implementing victim identification procedures, training numerous officials, and identifying more potential victims. Legislation that would criminalize all forms of human trafficking and provide extensive protections to trafficking victims was introduced to parliament in April 2011. The absence of such legislation and related policies or laws on victim protection, however, limited the government's ability to prosecute trafficking offenders and provide comprehensive assistance for trafficking victims during the reporting period.

Recommendations for Trinidad and Tobago: Enact draft legislation that prohibits all forms of human trafficking and includes victim protection measures; encourage victims' assistance in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenses, including by offering legal alternatives to foreign victims' removal to countries in which they would face retribution or hardship and by ensuring that identified victims are not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked; vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and sentence trafficking offenders; implement a national public awareness campaign in multiple languages that addresses all forms of trafficking, including forced domestic service and other forms of forced labor.

Prosecution

The government made limited progress in its prosecution and punishment of sex and labor trafficking offenders during the reporting period. The lack of comprehensive legislation that would make human trafficking a crime and would ensure protection of trafficking victims was a significant limitation in the government's ability to prosecute trafficking offenders and address human trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago. Nevertheless, the government's anti-trafficking task force, which was established in November 2009, drafted comprehensive legislation during the year that reportedly criminalizes all forms of trafficking and provides for victim protection; the legislation progressed to final stages of executive branch review before introduction to Parliament. Debate on the legislation began on April 8, 2011. The government claimed to have investigated trafficking offences during the reporting period, but did not provide the number of investigations, nor did it provide data on any prosecutions, convictions, or sentences of trafficking offenders or any officials guilty of trafficking complicity under any statute. In partnership with IOM, the government co-funded a series of trainings for over 100 government officials, including police, immigration authorities, school guidance counselors, and labor inspectors, in responding to human trafficking.

Protection

The government made progress in victim protection during the reporting period. It reportedly identified at least two potential sex trafficking victims during the reporting period; this is an improvement over the lack of any victims identified during the previous year. An NGO reportedly identified at least five additional sex trafficking victims during the reporting period. The government's trafficking task force developed a formal system to identify trafficking victims, which officials used on an ad hoc basis between June and October 2010 and then consistently since October. It is now part of the standard operating procedure for all brothel raids. The Ministry of Labor reported it has hired translators to assist during labor inspections at job sites where there are Chinese laborers to better screen for unfair labor practices and human trafficking. During the reporting period, the government provided shelter and protection for at least one victim. The government offered human trafficking victims some social services directly and through NGOs that received government funding, but there was no specific budget dedicated toward trafficking victim protection.

Trinbagonian authorities encouraged crime victims in general to assist with the investigation and prosecution of offenders, though without legislation prohibiting human trafficking or providing formal protections for trafficking victims, few incentives existed for trafficking victims to assist in practice. During the reporting period, at least five victims reportedly were detained for immigration violations and deported.

Prevention

The government made some progress in the prevention of human trafficking during the reporting period. On occasion throughout 2010, both the newly elected prime minister and the new minister of national security spoke out publicly to raise awareness about human trafficking. An NGO that received government funding launched a human trafficking awareness day in March 2011 that involved a national teaching campaign for NGOs, government officials, and the general public, and explicitly addressed the demand for commercial sex acts. The government anti-trafficking task force included four NGO members, met monthly throughout the reporting period, and made final recommendations to the cabinet in October 2010 regarding legislative reform, government training, and public awareness. The government has no formal system for monitoring its anti-trafficking efforts. The government has dedicated a number for a future trafficking hotline, but the number is not yet functional. NGOs that operate existing hotlines with government funding for child abuse and domestic violence have participated in trafficking awareness training. Authorities did not consider child sex tourism to be a problem in Trinidad and Tobago during the reporting period and reported no cases of it identified, investigated, or prosecuted.