How to spot a human trafficker
HEAD of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Vice Squad in the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Deputy Superintendent of Police Carl Berry is appealing to citizens to become more aware of how human traffickers think and operate.
During an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Berry said traffickers respond to various situations, one of them being law enforcement interventions.
“They’ll move frequently from one location to the next to avoid the glare of law enforcement — that’s the trend that exists internationally. People should be vigilant wherever they are. It takes one thought that trafficking existed in areas where there are high sexual and prostitution activity, but the reality is that it can occur right at home, wherever you are,” he said.
To further illustrate his point, Berry said many times it is people who are very closely related who commit the nefarious crime.
“This whole story of ‘stranger danger’ is true. We have seen people who are very closely related traffic each other. On the Internet and social media spaces people must be extremely vigilant, as one of the weapons these criminals have is their recruitment tool. They are very skillful at it so we ask people to be very vigilant where they exist, understand the crime type — how it works — who the traffickers are and ensure that when you use the social media spaces that you are extremely careful,” he warned.
But how can an individual spot signs of human trafficking? Berry told the Sunday Observer that the manifestations are many.
“Sex trafficking is one such; we have forced labour, we have human trafficking which is a stand-alone under our law. There is sex tourism that exists across the world, forced begging — we recently proved a case before our local courts — forced marriage is always one manifestation across the world and mapping ours as well, there is organ transplant. So these are some of the many manifestations,” he said.
Berry also pointed out that human traffickers treat the crime like a business, and the manifestation of the crime usually matches their business model.
“Depending on the business model then that target group will be decided,” he said.
As it relates to identifying victims or people who may be in danger, Berry said there are telltale signs that can expose the crime.
“Sometimes signs are pronounced — you see scars. Once a person’s faculties are intact, then it is likely that if they have a wound they would seek medical care. If there is somebody around you who has this open wound and is not seeking medical care, that is one trigger to suggest the person is suffering psychologically, so we ask people to look out for open scars. Look for signs of people being tied up for example around the wrist and around the neck. For example, look for scars that fingernails and cigarette butts can cause. Those are some of the visible ones that can really affect, psychologically, the individual,” Berry said.
He continued, “If a person who is usually busy and up and about is now fully withdrawn, that’s also a red flag. We also ask people to check for those, especially [those] who have travel documents. If you don’t have it in your control and someone is controlling it, that is a strong red flag. A person who gets escorted everywhere and is spoken for and is not allowed to talk or engage with people — those are just some red flags that we see for human trafficking. It manifests itself in several ways across the world. “
To report suspicions, Berry encouraged individuals to utilise the various telephone numbers and agencies that respond to human trafficking. These include the police, calling Crime Stop at 311, any embassy, Office of the Children’s Advocate, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency or the National Taskforce Against Trafficking in Persons.