Child sex trafficking - a modern form of slavery-

Developing countries are too often over-dependent on tourism to bring in foreign revenue - but foreign currency is not all that tourists bring with them, as last week’s report on sex trafficking in Jamaica demonstrates. Jamaica is a victim of its own natural beauty and to a degree, its aggressive marketing and over-portrayal as the European holidaymakers dream island; perfect for sun, sea and sand. But there is one other holiday attraction to add to that list – ‘sex.’

It is ironic that tour operators, especially those who run all-inclusive resorts which ensure that foreign visitors rarely spend their money in locally run shops, are the first to warn tourists of the dangers of straying outside their resorts. This is because it is predominantly middle-aged, over-weight European women who are keen to explore the local talent, mostly young, poor Jamaican men, often teenagers who are willing to trade their bodies for money. These young men, not only exchange sex for cash with middle-aged European women – but middle-aged European men, too.

Adult- only sex resorts in Jamaica have helped to conjure up the image of the country as a free and easy island where anything goes. But last week’s report by Shared Hope International, a non-profit organization that focuses on helping victims of sex trafficking, is a grim reminder that in countries like Jamaica, the tourist industry often masks an organized sex trade industry where individuals are coerced into prostitution and the operators are making millions of dollars a year.

The report and documentary ‘Demand’ followed a year-long investigation on commercial sexual exploitation which suggests that countries are often “compliant” in sex trafficking through a culture of tolerance, which allows the sex industries to flourish. Whilst women and children are trafficked from rural to urban areas to facilitate the sex trade, the report observes that boys are increasingly in demand.





Jamaica is both a source and destination country for children who are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation. Although the Jamaican government passed the Child Care and Protection Act in 2004, no action has been taken against traffickers who sexually exploit children. But it is time for the Jamaican government to stop turning the other cheek. When the under-developed bodies of young people – the hope for a nation’s future are being used to generate millions of dollars, predominantly for Europeans whose motive is purely economic – does this not draw a parallel with the chattel enslavement of the ancestors of these children a few hundred years ago?  




This is why I know that I have to keep pushing and spreading the word so that people are aware that Jamaica's children are in need of help... These types of crimes against children have got to stop.......