- Summary of 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report Saint Vincent
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government is making significant efforts to eliminate trafficking, but it still falls short of the minimum standards. The government has shown increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, including increased investigations, labor inspections, training for officials, and public awareness campaigns. However, the government has not prosecuted a trafficking case since 2015 and has never convicted a trafficker. Victim identification and services have remained weak, and officials have not identified a victim since 2019.
Prioritized recommendations include vigorously prosecuting and enabling successful convictions of traffickers, increasing investigations of suspected sex and labor trafficking cases, improving the quality and specialization of victim services, consistently screening domestic and foreign at-risk populations for trafficking indicators, increasing training for police, prosecutors, and the judiciary on improved evidence collection in trafficking cases, increasing the capacity of labor inspectors to identify and refer victims of labor trafficking to care, and continuing to raise awareness about labor trafficking and sex trafficking and the need for public cooperation in law enforcement investigations.
The government has decreased minimal law enforcement efforts, with the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act criminalizing sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribing penalties of up to 15 years’ imprisonment for crimes involving adult victims and up to 20 years’ imprisonment for those involving child victims. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit (ATIPU) initiated five labor trafficking investigations, but closed all eight new and ongoing investigations due to lack of evidence.
The lack of prosecutions and convictions and dismissal of past trafficking cases over several years indicate shortcomings in the government’s ability to acquire sufficient evidence to bring cases to trial. Authorities noted the pandemic and a volcanic eruption negatively impacting the police by diverting resources and personnel to areas other than strategically targeted areas. The ATIPU conducted surveillance at airports, seaports, marinas, bars, nightclubs, entertainment spots, restaurants, beaches, and social events to identify possible trafficking crimes.
The government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been criticized for its minimal victim protection efforts, with authorities reporting screening for potential victims but not identifying any victims. The government’s anti-trafficking act provides victims with temporary and permanent residence permits and protection from immediate deportation, but authorities did not link these benefits to cooperation with law enforcement. The government also allows foreign victims who remain in the country to work but did not make use of this provision.
The government maintains efforts to prevent trafficking through the national task force led by the prime minister, which coordinates anti-trafficking efforts among its members. However, the report on how often the task force meets is not readily available to the public. The ATIPU operates three 24-hour English-language hotlines, including a dedicated trafficking hotline, an emergency number, and a police operator, and monitors an email address for reporting suspected trafficking cases. The government submits an annual anti-trafficking report to Parliament, but the report is not readily available to the public.
The government also raises awareness via live radio programs, television interviews, social media, presentations to schools and summer camps, and a public walk to distribute flyers and brochures, leaflets, and bookmarks. The government reports routinely conducting planned and unannounced labor inspections of hotels, farms, stores, bars, security workplaces, and domestic work locations, but does not report identifying any victims through these activities or training labor inspectors. The 1940 Recruiting of Workers Act remained in force and banned recruitment fees, while the government regulated overseas labor programs for its citizens by serving as an intermediary.
The government has bilateral agreements with several countries regarding oversees recruitment and employment and using resources in its embassies overseas to prevent trafficking. Labor inspectors are trained to investigate child labor crimes, but the government did not train labor inspectors specifically on child labor. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.
Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in St. Vincent and the Grenadines over the past five years. In April 2021, the La Soufriere volcanic eruption and a subsequent hurricane destroyed a third of the country’s arable land, making it vulnerable to trafficking. Adults may exploit their children in sex trafficking to generate income, while others may exploit child sex trafficking victims. Foreign workers employed by small, foreign-owned companies may be vulnerable to labor trafficking.
The government invited Cuban medical workers in the country to assist in the pandemic healthcare response and signed a bilateral agreement with Cuba governing the work and living arrangements for these medical professionals. However, in 2023 and two separate occasions, three Cuban medical workers faced a violent physical attack that sent one into intensive care. It is unclear if these individuals were targeted.
Cuban nationals working in St. Vincent and the Grenadines may have been forced to work by the Cuban government. International air travel in the Eastern Caribbean, the main mode of transportation for foreign trafficking victims in the region, collapsed during the pandemic, and when limited air travel resumed, the main routes were to the United States, which may have temporarily limited the number of foreign victims more likely to come from other countries.
