Starting Over – The Challenges for Trafficking Survivors

“Migrant women, trafficked from neighbouring South American countries, have found themselves in Trinidad and Tobago being sexually, physically, and mentally abused, and in some cases, imprisoned.”

In one instance, a Venezuelan woman who we will call Manuela was smuggled into Trinidad via boat. Promised a decent job when recruited by the trafficker, she was forced into a van and transported to a house where other women were already being held captive and forced into prostitution.

Her attempt to escape her captivity led to her being arrested by the authorities and placed in detention for being in the country illegally.

Thanks to the International Organisation for Migration which advocated on her behalf, she was released. With her freedom attained, the arduous journey to recovery began.

For more details on the challenges trafficking survivors experience in their recovery, please read the article linked to below.

Kudos to the wonderful people at the Port of Spain office of the IOM led by Ms Jewel Ali! They foster Hope for Survivors and help them to start over.

https://reliefweb.int/report/trinidad-and-tobago/trinidad-helping-human-trafficking-survivors-start-again

Incarcerating Trafficked Persons Traumatizes Them!

We’re grateful to Michelle Mildwater of Denmark who shared this post on LinkedIn recently.

It highlights that the practice of treating trafficking victims like criminals because of the way they entered a country is a pervasive one around the world.

Many victims experienced trauma, abuse and exploitation in their past before being found by traffickers. Some are smuggled from their country of origin into another country where they will be exploited.

To hold the trafficking victim fully and solely responsible for the actions of abusers and exploiters is contrary to the intent of law as a means of effecting justice.

What we need is a therapeutic approach to justice that does not harm those already in harm’s way, identifies who has been hurt and how, and tries to repair the harm done with holistic measures, while doing what is required to make systemic changes to prevent further harm to others.

For Michelle’s article on the challenges faced by detained African migrants who were trafficked to Europe please click the link below.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-6796670234901135360-pxJm

Increasing Prosecutions of Human Traffickers with Multi-Pronged Approaches.

The global recognition of human trafficking as a grievous injustice and violation of human rights has not been met with sufficient successful prosecutions against those accused of committing the crime, especially at the highest levels of trafficking networks.

In many instances, human trafficking prosecutions require the support of the victims whose lives have been devastated by their exploitation and who may not feel comfortable in testifying against their abusers for fear of retaliation towards themselves or their loved ones. Nor are many victims able to testify about the persons who control large criminal networks which are often multi-layered. Therefore, many prosecutions may be brought against lower level criminals while the root of these networks remain unscathed.

Here is where DNA evidence and financial crime evidence come in to strengthen a case and tip the scale in favour of the prosecution. These forms of evidence can withstand scrutiny and remain in place to support the charges against traffickers even if the victim refuses to testify at trial or changes sides to support the defence.

Financial crime evidence can link participants at all levels as investigators “follow the money” for months or even years, building a case against those at the upper echelons of criminal networks.

The linked video gives a brief insight into how financial crime data can help strengthen a case against human traffickers. We are very pleased that the development and expansion of these strategies involve collaboration among law enforcement, the financial sector and the invaluable input of survivors of trafficking. 

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1700187715995

Spain provides Covid-19 lockdown support for Human Trafficking Survivors.

On Tuesday, in the midst of its fight against the spread of Covid-19, Spain extended its measures to protect victims of gender violence and women victims of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and prostitution in the face of the country’s coronavirus lockdown. This is after the western European nation has registered more than 204,000 Covid-19 infections and over 21,200 deaths.

Under the measures to be piloted by Spain’s Ministry of Equality, victims will be able to access improved support services, emergency accommodation and claim a new social benefit for those at risk of extreme poverty. The benefit, called the Minimum Vital Income, will be formally announced in the coming days and shall take effect from the beginning of May.

Due to the state imposed restrictions on movement, many victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and prostituted persons have not had their rights protected since March 12. Normal support services were halted and some civil society organisations in Europe – as elsewhere around the world – have experienced a decline in income, shifted to online interventions and had to furlough staff.

It is hoped that as the Spanish army and police conduct inspections and close hostels, hotels and clubs, they will better coordinate with those civil society organisations that can still provide assistance and protection. In this way, the expertise to detect and identify victims of these hidden crimes will be available and the interventions will be more effective.

While we appreciate these efforts to ensure no one is left behind as Spain continues to fight against Covid-19, CURB is concerned about the sustainability of the measures. We trust medium and long term planning is being done in consultation with the survivors of exploitation and trafficking. It would be remarkable and appropriate if the steps forward to be taken by the State include strong legal and judicial action against sex traffickers, exploiters and buyers and holistic, sustainable services for their victims.

For more information, please visit https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-trafficking/spain-provides-lockdown-support-for-trafficking-victims-prostitutes-idUSKCN22327G