The Jamaican Child Development Agency has launched a help line for victims of human trafficking and those who have information on human trafficking cases in the country. The number is 1-888-PROTECT or 1-888-776-8328 and is toll free.
The 2006 US State Department report into trafficking in persons listed Jamaica as a country which does have a significant problem with trafficking in persons, with women from the Dominican Republic and from Eastern Europe being trafficked into forced prostitution as well as women and children being trafficked from rural to urban and tourist areas for sexual exploitation.
Director of Policy Planning and Evaluation at the CDA, Audrey Budhi said;
“we do not know the scope and the extent of human trafficking in Jamaica“.
“There have been cases locally, where children and adults have been solicited from their homes and families with empty promises for a better life, and an escape from hunger and inadequate shelter and accommodation, and have been forced to live under adverse circumstances,”
To read more about this and related subjects, please visit Jamaica information Service by clicking here.

The main defendant in a human trafficking case in Finland has unexpectedly admitted to making Euros 17,000 from the prostitution of 4 Estonian women. The 32 year old man has already been sentenced to five years in prison for aggravated human trafficking, although at the time he denied the charges. Charges have also been filed in Estonia against three men and two women for running a brothel in Helsinki, an operation which was allegedly run from an Estonian prison. The case involved the trafficking of 15 women from Estonia to Finland, including one mentally disabled woman. There is an established trafficking route between Estonia and Finland. To read more on this and related subjects, please visit Helsingin Sanomat by clicking here.

The British Conservative Party has called on the UK Government to sign and ratify the Council of Europe convention on Action Against Trafficking in human beings. The government has been reticent to sign the convention due to fears that giving victims permission to stay in the country for a thirty day reflection period might lead to an increase in illegal immigration. David Davis, the shadow home secretary stated, however, that giving a thirty day reflection period will not lead to illegal immigration, as the victims are “ready to go and become witnesses”. While the intention to support the Convention is a big step forward, it is important to understand that victims must be given a reflection period whether they are ready to testify or not. Many victims feel too frightened of reprisals to testify against their traffickers. The UK government has replied that the Conservative Party should support ID cards if they are really against human trafficking. Although the UK government has been making great progress in the fight against human trafficking, it is important that it follows the lead of the Conservative Party and agrees to sign the Council of Europe Convention. To read more on this and related subjects, please visit The Herald by clicking here.

Bulgaria and Romania have now joined the EU, but they are still struggling with a huge human trafficking problem which could now become worse as borders open up and also as people look towards travelling to other European countries to find work, making them potentially vulnerable to being trafficked. Reuters has reported that thousands of women continue to be lured by promises of jobs only to forced into prostitution abroad. Human trafficking is endemic in the Black Sea region and there is now a growing sex tourism industry there.
Gina-Maria Stoian, director of The Adpare Foundation, a Romanian organisation that helps victims of human trafficking, said “There is a lot of exploitation in Romania and I am sure the numbers will get bigger,”
To read more about this and related issues, please visit Focus by clicking here.