Women playing bigger role in human trafficking, advocate warns

Children's Advocate and National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Diahann Gordon Harrison, has warned that women are increasingly emerging as key players in human trafficking, a crime she described as modern day slavery.

Speaking recently at the 22nd Annual George Liele Lecture at the Mamby Park Baptist Church in Kingston, Gordon Harrison said that while men are still predominantly identified as the main perpetrators, women are now appearing as traffickers themselves or as significant figures within organised trafficking networks.

She explained that women are often involved in recruiting victims and preparing them for exploitation, using what she described as their nurturing qualities for harmful purposes.

"They assist with the recruitment and the orientation as to what the new recruits must do if they are going to have this business operate and bring in profit," she said, noting that this trend is deeply troubling.

Human trafficking, which involves exploiting people for profit through force, fraud or coercion, remains a serious human rights violation affecting millions of men, women and children worldwide. According to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, about 40 per cent of those convicted globally for human trafficking are women, a significantly higher level of female involvement than seen in most other forms of organised crime.

Gordon Harrison noted that women involved in trafficking operations often play roles in ownership and management, recruitment, housing and monitoring victims, collecting money and forging travel documents. While women and girls remain the majority of victims, particularly in cases of sexual exploitation, traffickers frequently rely on women for recruitment because they are perceived as more trustworthy.

She also highlighted the scale of the crime, describing human trafficking as the fastest growing form of organised crime globally, with illegal activities generating an estimated US$150 billion.

Beyond breaking the law, Gordon Harrison said trafficking strips victims of their dignity, individuality and freedom. Locally, she said Jamaica has made strides in prevention, with strong laws in place to punish traffickers, protect victims and remove profit from the crime.

She added that public education campaigns targeting schools and vulnerable groups are ongoing, and that there have been 17 convictions related to human trafficking so far.

"Culture shift takes time, and we have to keep going, because if you save even one potential victim, that is one less," Gordon Harrison said.

- JIS

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