stats

A RECENT study on migrant smuggling and human trafficking to Trinidad and Tobago reports that women
are being trafficked for sex establishments in Central and South Trinidad, and they are being forced into
marriages of convenience and businessmen, religious leaders, lawyers and law enforcement agents are
linked to the illegal trade.

The report, “Invisible Immigrants: A profile of irregular migration, smuggling of migrants and
trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago” was commissioned by the African, Caribbean and
Pacific (ACP) Observatory on Migration.
In the report, one stakeholder identifies a lawyer who, with religious leaders, facilitates
marriages of convenience to regularise the status of the trafficked women lured to TT with the
promise of employment.
Noting that the majority of victims are sexually exploited and psychologically abused, the report
says: “This is noteworthy, as several stakeholders referred to establishments in Central and South
Trinidad, which bring in girls, particularly for the commercial sex trade, and request that they
hand over their passports.”
Brothels and nightclubs are identified as places where trafficked persons can be found.
The report quotes unconfirmed findings of the National Security Ministry which states that
victims of trafficking between June 2009 and August 2012 were 39 percent Venezuelan, 31
percent Colombian, 22 percent from Dominican Republic and eight percent from Guyana.
For overstayers by nationality the overwhelming majority were Guyanese at 61 percent, followed
by Jamaica with 10 percent. For undocumented workers, by nationality, Guyana and China tied
for the highest at 35 percent, then Indonesia with 15 percent.
In the area of smuggled migrants, the study quotes the Police Service Crime and Problem
Analysis Branch (CAPA) statistics from 2007 to April 2012 which found that Colombians
constituted the highest trafficked category at 57 percent, followed by 17 percent Venezuelans,
eight percent Guyanese and Ghanaians, and five percent Nigerians and other.
One major form of smuggling is described as a “loosely organised venture” with people,
particularly fishermen, transporting migrants from the Venezuelan mainland to TT at costs
ranging from US$120 to US$200.
“Individuals entering through these means are dropped off at the ‘safest’ point and left to ‘fend
for themselves’ in terms of accessing transportation, jobs and accommodation, etc,” the report
states.
The other form of smuggling is recorded as an “intricately organised scheme” with key contact
persons at every point on the journey to facilitate the undetected entry and settlement of the
migrant.

One detainee cited in the report referred to an extensive network known as the “brotherhood”
which “puts everything in place” for African nationals seeking foreign opportunities and also
offer a support base when the migrant arrives.
The study reports that in some instances, upon reaching Trinidad, smuggled migrants were
forced to swim ashore. The fees of the smugglers are “consistently high” and one irregular
migrant in detention reported paying US$12,000.
“Therefore, in an effort to finance this venture many migrants resort to selling off their assets and
securing loans from family, friends and smugglers. Consequently, botched migration efforts
usually left these individuals impoverished and bankrupt,” the study states.
The study is one of three commissioned by the ACP. The other two are “Human Mobility in the
Caribbean: Circulation of Skills and Immigration from the South” and a final study “Becoming
an Immigrant Magnet: Migrants’ Profiles and the Impact of Migration on Human Development
in Trinidad and Tobago.”
The trafficking and South immigration studies are complete, having received final ACP approval
while the third report is awaiting final approval.
Publications of the first two studies were on Friday handed over to Maurice Suite, Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of National Security by Jewel Ali, representating the International
Organisation for Migration at the meeting of the National Consultative Committee on Migration
and Development (NCC) held at the ministry’s Port-of-Spain offices.

#2

20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking

After first learning about human trafficking, many people want to help in some way but do not know how. Here are just
a few ideas for your consideration.
1. Learn the red flags that may indicate human trafficking and ask follow up questions so that you can help
identify a potential trafficking victim. Human trafficking awareness training is available for individuals, businesses,
first responders, law enforcement, and federal employees.
2. In the United States, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 (24/7) to get help
and connect with a service provider in your area, report a tip with information on potential human trafficking activity; or
learn more by requesting training, technical assistance, or resources. Call federal law enforcement directly to report
suspicious activity and get help from the Department of Homeland Security at 1-866-347-2423 (24/7), or submit a
tip online at www.ice.gov/tips, or from the U.S. Department of Justice at 1-888-428-7581 from 9:00am to 5:00pm
(EST). Victims, including undocumented individuals, are eligible for services and immigration assistance.
3. Be a conscientious consumer. Discover your Slavery Footprint, and check out the Department of Labor’s List of
Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Encourage companies, including your own, to take steps to
investigate and eliminate slavery and human trafficking in their supply chains and to publish the information for
consumer awareness.
4. Incorporate human trafficking information into your professional associations’ conferences, trainings, manuals, and
other materials as relevant [example].
5. Join or start a grassroots anti-trafficking coalition.
6. Meet with and/or write to your local, state, and federal government representatives to let them know that you care
about combating human trafficking in your community, and ask what they are doing to address human trafficking in
your area.
7. Distribute public awareness materials available from the Department of Health and Human Services or
Department of Homeland Security.
8. Volunteer to do victim outreach or offer your professional services to a local anti-trafficking organization.
9. Donate funds or needed items to an anti-trafficking organization in your area.
10. Organize a fundraiser and donate the proceeds to an anti-trafficking organization.

11. Host an awareness event to watch and discuss a recent human trafficking documentary. On a larger scale,
host a human trafficking film festival.
12. Encourage your local schools to partner with students and include the issue of modern day slavery in their
curriculum. As a parent, educator, or school administrator, be aware of how traffickers target school-aged children.
13. Set up a Google alert to receive current human trafficking news.
14. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about human trafficking in your community.
15. Start or sign a human trafficking petition.
16. Businesses: Provide internships, job skills training, and/or jobs to trafficking survivors. Consumers: Purchase
items made by trafficking survivors such as from Jewel Girls or Made by Survivors.
17. Students: Take action on your campus. Join or establish a university or secondary school club to raise
awareness about human trafficking and initiate action throughout your local community. Consider doing one of your
research papers on a topic concerning human trafficking. Professors: Request that human trafficking be an issue
included in university curriculum. Increase scholarship about human trafficking by publishing an article, teaching a
class, or hosting a symposium.
18. Law Enforcement Officials: Join or start a local human trafficking task force.
19. Mental Health or Medical Providers: Extend low-cost or free services to human trafficking victims assisted by
nearby anti-trafficking organizations. Train your staff on how to identify the indicators of human trafficking and assist
victims.
20. Attorneys: Look for signs of human trafficking among your clients. Offer pro-bono services to trafficking
victims or anti-trafficking organizations. Learn about and offer to human trafficking victims the legal benefits for
which they are eligible. Assist anti-trafficking NGOs with capacity building and legal work.

#3

55 Little Known Facts About . . .
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Human Trafficking
1. Approximately 75-80% of human trafficking is for sex.a
2. Researchers note that sex trafficking plays a major role in the spread of HIV.b
3. There are more human slaves in the world today than ever before in history.l
4. There are an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children around the world who are
victims of human trafficking.l
5. Human trafficking not only involves sex and labor, but people are also trafficked for organ
harvesting.k
6. Human traffickers often use a Sudanese phrase “use a slave to catch slaves,” meaning
traffickers send “broken-in girls” to recruit younger girls into the sex trade. Sex traffickers
often train girls themselves, raping them and teaching them sex acts. l
7. Eighty percent of North Koreans who escape into China are women. Nine out of 10 of those
women become victims of human trafficking, often for sex. If the women complain, they are
deported back to North Korea, where they are thrown into gulags or are executed. h

Approximately 30,000 victims of sex trafficking die each year

8. An estimated 30,000 victims of sex trafficking die each year from abuse, disease, torture, and
neglect. Eighty percent of those sold into sexual slavery are under 24, and some are as
young as six years old.j
9. Ludwig “Tarzan” Fainberg, a convicted trafficker, said, “You can buy a woman for $10,000

and make your money back in a week if she is pretty and young. Then everything else is
profit.”l
10. A human trafficker can earn 20 times what he or she paid for a girl. Provided the girl was not
physically brutalized to the point of ruining her beauty, the pimp could sell her again for a
greater price because he had trained her and broken her spirit, which saves future buyers the
hassle. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found that, on average, a single sex slave earned
her pimp at least $250,000 a year.l
11. Although human trafficking is often a hidden crime and accurate statistics are difficult to
obtain, researchers estimate that more than 80% of trafficking victims are female. Over 50%
of human trafficking victims are children.l
12. The end of the Cold War has resulted in the growth of regional conflicts and the decline of
borders. Many rebel groups turn to human trafficking to fund military actions and garner
soldiers.k
13. According to a 2009 Washington Times article, the Taliban buys children as young as seven
years old to act as suicide bombers. The price for child suicide bombers is between $7,000$14,000.n
14. UNICEF estimates that 300,000 children younger than 18 are currently trafficked to serve in
armed conflicts worldwide.n

Pregnant women are increasingly being trafficked for their newborns

15. Human traffickers are increasingly trafficking pregnant women for their newborns. Babies are
sold on the black market, where the profit is divided between the traffickers, doctors, lawyers,
border officials, and others. The mother is usually paid less than what is promised her, citing
the cost of travel and creating false documents. A mother might receive as little as a few
hundred dollars for her baby.k
16. More than 30% of all trafficking cases in 2007-2008 involved children being sold into the sex
industry.o
17. The Western presence in Kosovo, such as NATO troops and civilians, have fueled the rapid
growth of sex trafficking and forced prostitution. Amnesty International has reported that
NATO soldiers, UN police, and Western aid workers “operated with near impunity in
exploiting the victims of the sex traffickers.”g
18. Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video is about human trafficking. In the video, Gaga is trafficked

by a Russian bathhouse into sex slavery.f
19. Human trafficking is the only area of transnational crime in which women are significantly
represented—as victims, as perpetrators, and as activists fighting this crime. a
20. Global warming and severe natural disasters have left millions homeless and impoverished,
which has created desperate people easily exploited by human traffickers. k
21. Over 71% of trafficked children show suicidal tendencies.l
22. After sex, the most common form of human trafficking is forced labor. Researchers argue that
as the economic crisis deepens, the number of people trafficked for forced labor will
increase.k
23. Most human trafficking in the United States occurs in New York, California, and Florida. l
24. According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30
million children have been sexually exploited through human trafficking. k
25. Several countries rank high as source countries for human trafficking, including Belarus, the
Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Lithuania,
Romania, China, Thailand, and Nigeria.l
26. Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, and the
U.S. are ranked very high as destination countries of trafficked victims. l
27. Women are trafficked to the U.S. largely to work in the sex industry (including strip clubs,
peep and touch shows, massage parlors that offer sexual services, and prostitution). They
are also trafficked to work in sweatshops, domestic servitude, and agricultural work. l

Sex traffickers often use brutal violence to “condition” their victims

28. Sex traffickers use a variety of ways to “condition” their victims, including subjecting them to
starvation, rape, gang rape, physical abuse, beating, confinement, threats of violence toward
the victim and victim’s family, forced drug use, and shame. l
29. Family members will often sell children and other family members into slavery; the younger
the victim, the more money the trafficker receives. For example, a 10-year-old named Gita
was sold into a brothel by her aunt. The now 22-year-old recalls that when she refused to
work, the older girls held her down and stuck a piece of cloth in her mouth so no one would
hear her scream as she was raped by a customer. She would later contract HIV.l

30. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises because it holds relatively
low risk with high profit potential. Criminal organizations are increasingly attracted to human
trafficking because, unlike drugs, humans can be sold repeatedly.k
31. Human trafficking is estimated to surpass the drug trade in less than five years. Journalist
Victor Malarek reports that it is primarily men who are driving human trafficking, specifically
trafficking for sex.i
32. Victims of human trafficking suffer devastating physical and psychological harm. However,
due to language barriers, lack of knowledge about available services, and the frequency with
which traffickers move victims, human trafficking victims and their perpetrators are difficult to
catch.i
33. In approximately 54% of human trafficking cases, the recruiter is a stranger, and in 46% of
the cases, the recruiters know the victim. Fifty-two percent of human trafficking recruiters are
men, 42% are women, and 6% are both men and women. d
34. Human trafficking around the globe is estimated to generate a profit of anywhere from $9
billion to $31.6 billion. Half of these profits are made in industrialized countries. d
35. Some human traffickers recruit handicapped young girls, such as those suffering from Down
Syndrome, into the sex industry.l
36. According to the FBI, a large human-trafficking organization in California in 2008 not only
physically threatened and beat girls as young as 12 to work as prostitutes, they also regularly
threatened them with witchcraft.e
37. Human trafficking is a global phenomenon that is fueled by poverty and gender
discrimination.k
38. Human traffickers often work with corrupt government officials to obtain travel documents and
seize passports.i
39. Women and girls from racial minorities in the U.S. are disproportionately recruited by sex
traffickers in the U.S.l
40. The Sunday Telegraph in the U.K. reports that hundreds of children as young as six are
brought to the U.K. as slaves each year.m

Japan is a major hub of sex trafficking

41. Japan is considered the largest market for Asian women trafficked for sex. i
42. Airports are often used by human traffickers to hold “slave auctions,” where women and
children are sold into prostitution.m
43. Due to globalization, every continent of the world has been involved in human trafficking,
including a country as small as Iceland.k
44. Many times, if a sex slave is arrested, she is imprisoned while her trafficker is able to buy his
way out of trouble.l
45. Today, slaves are cheaper than they have ever been in history. The population explosion has
created a great supply of workers, and globalization has created people who are vulnerable
and easily enslaved.l
46. Human trafficking and smuggling are similar but not interchangeable. Smuggling is
transportation based. Trafficking is exploitation based. l
47. Sex traffickers often recruit children because not only are children more unsuspecting and
vulnerable than adults, but there is also a high market demand for young victims. Traffickers
target victims on the telephone, on the Internet, through friends, at the mall, and in afterschool programs.o
48. Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and in some U.S.
territories.e
49. The FBI estimates that over 100,000 children and young women are trafficked in America
today. They range in age from nine to 19, with the average being age 11. Many victims are
not just runaways or abandoned, but are from “good” families who are coerced by clever
traffickers.o
50. Brazil and Thailand are generally considered to have the worst child sex trafficking records. k
51. The AIDS epidemic in Africa has left many children orphaned, making them especially
vulnerable to human trafficking.l
52. Nearly 7,000 Nepali girls as young as nine years old are sold every year into India’s red-light
district—or 200,000 in the last decade. Ten thousand children between the ages of six and 14
are in Sri Lanka brothels.j
53. Human trafficking victims face physical risks, such as drug and alcohol addiction, contracting
STDs, sterility, miscarriages, forced abortions, vaginal and anal trauma, among others.
Psychological effects include developing clinical depression, personality and dissociative
disorders, suicidal tendencies, Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and Complex PostTraumatic Stress Syndrome.l

54. The largest human trafficking case in recent U.S. history occurred in Hawaii in 2010. Global
Horizons Manpower, Inc., a labor-recruiting company, bought 400 immigrants in 2004 from
Thailand to work on farms in Hawaii. They were lured with false promises of high-paying farm
work, but instead their passports were taken away and they were held in forced servitude
until they were rescued in 2010.c
55. According to the U.S. State Department, human trafficking is one of the greatest human
rights challenges of this century, both in the United States and around the world. l

#4

How do people become victims of human
trafficking?
Poverty is a major driver of the human trafficking industry. Those trapped in poverty are keen to
obtain a better life for themselves and their families, and these vulnerable people are preyed on
by unscrupulous people offering jobs, training, opportunities, remuneration and better life
prospects.
There are a number of main ways that people initially become trafficked:
1. Many women and children are kidnapped into slavery
2. some children are sold to traders by their parents,
3. some children are willingly sent with a trader by their parents, who have been promised
that their children will receive a good education, an apprenticeship or a good job and good
prospects or even just adequate food. Traders can often be well known locals or relatives,
so the parents trust them.
4. some women are married, only to find that their marriage is a sham, and that their new
husband has sold them into the sex industry,
5. some respond to job advertisements offering good pay for manual labour, only to find that
they are imprisoned on arrival, subjected to vastly different employment contracts to what
they had been led to believe, with no escape, and may be made to work for many years
labouring for no pay at all;
6. Many women apply to sham foreign job agencies or to study overseas, and go abroad
willingly thinking they will receive education or have employment as a waitress or a nanny
etc, only to find when they reach their destination that the reality is very different, and that
they are imprisoned, raped and forced into the prostitution industry.

Human Trafficking affects Every country in the
World

Every country in the world is either an origin country (ie source), a transit country or a
destination country for human trafficking. UNODC data shows trafficking of human beings from
127 countries, to be exploited in 137 countries.
Regions that are main ‘origin’ areas are Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern European countries,
former Eastern bloc and Soviet Union countries, Latin America and the Caribbean. The Highest
origin countries are Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Lithuania, Nigeria, Republic of Moldovia,
Romania, Russian Federation, Thailand and Ukraine
Main Destination areas are Western Europe, Western Africa, Asia, Arab Nations and North
America. The highest destination countries are Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan,
Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, USA.

#5
Here are 10 facts about human trafficking that everyone should know:
1. There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today. That’s the highest
recorded number of slaves in history!
2. The average cost of a slave around the world is $90.
3. Human trafficking has been identified as the largest human rights violation in the
history of mankind.
4. Human trafficking is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, after drug
smuggling and arms dealing.
5. The United States is one of the top three destination points for trafficked victims.
California, New York, Texas and Nevada are the top destination states within the country.
6. According to estimates, approximately 80 percent of trafficking involves sexual
exploitation, and 19 percent involves labor exploitation.
7. The average age of a young woman being trafficked is 12–14 years old.
8. Immigration agents estimate that 10,000 women are being held in Los Angeles’
underground brothels; this does not include the thousands of victims in domestic work,
sweatshops or other informal industries.
9. An estimated 13 million children are enslaved around the world today, accounting for
nearly half of trafficking victims in the world.
10. Trafficked children are significantly more likely to develop mental health problems,
abuse substances, engage in prostitution as adults, and either commit or be victimized
by violent crimes later in life.
It’s important to note that human trafficking is a very prevalent crime against basic
human rights, a crime that has spiraled out of control right under our noses. But don’t
let these troubling facts and grim human trafficking statistics overwhelm you.
Thousands of people both at home and abroad have been taking very effective
measures to combat the heinous injustice that is human trafficking. Things are a far cry
from perfect, but with new anti-trafficking laws, preventive measures, rigorous aftercare
and human rights agencies like our alliance partner IJM, who rescue victims of slavery
on a regular basis, substantial progress is being made.
How you can help

Let this quote by Elie Wiesel inspire you to take action: “I swore never to be silent
whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must
always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” Refuse to be
neutral. Educate yourself on human trafficking issues. Spread the word. Stand for
freedom.
Prayer Idea: Pray that this year we can save thousands of people subjected to a life of
human trafficking, that the preventive measures are effective, and also that the
survivors can successfully rebuild their lives and find security and happiness.

#6

What is the impact of sex trafficking?
Trafficking has a harrowing effect on the mental, emotional and physical well being of
the women and girls ensnared in its web. Beyond the physical abuse, trafficked women
suffer extreme emotional stress, including shame, grief, fear, distrust and suicidal
thoughts. Victims often experience post-traumatic stress disorder, and with that, acute
anxiety, depression and insomnia. Many victims turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the
pain.
Sex trafficking promotes societal breakdown by removing women and girls from their
families and communities. Trafficking fuels organized crime groups that usually
participate in many other illegal activities, including drug and weapons trafficking and
money laundering. It negatively impacts local and national labor markets, due to the
loss of human resources. Sex trafficking burdens public health systems. And trafficking
erodes government authority, encourages widespread corruption, and threatens the
security of vulnerable populations.