BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – Government is continuing its drive to sensitise citizens about human trafficking and its signs. To this end, four Transport Board buses have been wrapped with images and wording on human trafficking to help the public “know the signs”, and the contact numbers to report this crime.
These buses were put on the road on Sunday, July 27, and will remain in operation for two months. They are part of three activities that were undertaken by the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons to commemorate World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30. On that day, a message from the attorney general Dale Marshall was released as well as a new public service announcement (PSA). Additionally, the Task Force will soon disseminate PSAs entitled “Know the Signs”, as part of its work for the year.
Attorney General Marshall commended the work of the Task Force as he underscored the importance of sharing information on human trafficking at intervals, to educate citizens here or those going abroad in search of greener pastures.
“Our plan is to equip our citizens with the knowledge so they can identify if someone is being trafficked, and to ensure they don’t become a victim of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a widespread crime and a lucrative business. However, the true extent of the crime is difficult to ascertain,” he said.
Human trafficking occurs in all regions of the world, but people are mainly trafficked from lower-income to higher-income countries. Research indicates that most victims, approximately 60 percent, are detected domestically, while victims of cross-border trafficking are mainly found within the same region or in nearby regions. Sixteen percent are detected in transnational flows and end up in distant regions.
Research shows that most victims of cross-border trafficking come from Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, and South and East Asia.
Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of people by force, fraud, or deception, to exploit them for profit.
While about 50,000 human trafficking cases were reported by 141 countries to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2020, as many as 50 million people globally – the equivalent of the populations of South Korea or Uganda – may be subject to various forms of exploitation.
According to the UNODC website, human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes, along with drugs and arms trafficking, and generates an estimated $150 billion in profits each year.
