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Human trafficking in Jamaica
Human trafficking is a major international organised crime and is a form of modern day slavery. Jamaica has ratified the Palermo Protocol to prevent human trafficking, and the government has taken steps to increase prevention, prosecution of perpetrators and the protection of victims. However, the country remains a source, transit and destination country, and has been, for the last two years, on the US State Departments’ Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Tier Two Watch list, implying that the government is not fully compliant with anti-trafficking action.
Research commissioned by the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons (NATFATIP) coordinated by the Ministry of Justice in 2015, was aimed at filling information gaps since the TIP study by Ricketts and Dunn (2007) that provided data on the scope, characteristics and consequences of human trafficking in Jamaica. Another major area of need was the limited sharing of data across institutions. Lack of data has severely undermined the country’s ability to adequately understand the scope of the problem, identify new trends to guide investigation, and to collect evidence to develop a TIP policy, a national NATFATIP Strategic Plan.
The TIP electronic Database addresses Jamaica’s acute need to improve the collection and analysis of data to support prevention through awareness-building programmes, increase prosecutions of perpetrators, and guide the protection and support of TIP victims.
The studies provide evidence of Government of Jamaica’s actions to address the crime of human trafficking and build the capacity to secure more convictions.
The 2015 study has filled information gaps, identified new and emerging trends in TIP, highlighted gaps in current legislation and information sources, and assessed institutional capacity to identify and address the problem.
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