JAMAICA has seen an increase in the use of digital technologies, such as social media platforms, by predators to lure and traffic children, says National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons Diahann Gordon Harrison.

“I know last year we had quite a number of cases, not just trafficking cases but regular sexual offence cases that involved either some WhatsApp contact, Facebook contact, or Instagram contact. It was such a notable jump for us in our office here that it prompted me to release a handbook on sexual grooming involved with digital technologies,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“It was a very clear trend where we now had the regular talking, when you see each other and so on, but you also had this digital component — and I suppose it’s just that our society has evolved,” she added.

Internet access in Jamaica has significantly increased in both rural and urban areas over the last few years, as both the Government and members of the private sector work to bridge the digital divide.

These efforts were ramped up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed that many households and children were without Internet access to pursue online schooling or to work from home during the pandemic.

However, while efforts to bridge the digital divide have solved one issue, increased access to the Internet appears to be exacerbating other issues because it also means that children are now able to access sites where online predators might be lurking.

“We have seen it right here in Jamaica where teenagers are having online conversations that develop into online relationships with persons who are posing to be that nice guy who is in fifth form or who is in a sixth form who you like and I see you all the time, but you don’t see me yet, but let’s just keep this online for now.

“They’re having full-blown conversations, getting to know people online as far as they understand it. Then when they move that online relationship now to the real world, they agree to meet at a popular fast food restaurant, or at a pharmacy, or at the bus park, or wherever it is, and that’s how their trafficking experience starts because the person who they were talking to was telling them everything they wanted to hear…but it turned out that it was a trafficker,” she explained.

Gordon Harrison shared that in a recent child trafficking case, a 15-year-old was sexually trafficked through Facebook.

“They were having discussions over a number of weeks with each other, got to know each other and so on, as far as she thought, and then they agreed to meet in person.

“When she met the person face to face, it turned out that it was a male who didn’t necessarily check all of the boxes that she thought, just being an online impression that she had of him, and that is how her human trafficking experience started. So, it’s not a far out comment when we say that digital media is being used by persons who want to exploit children,” said the national rapporteur on trafficking in persons.

She added the teenager was trafficked for about two weeks before the matter was reported and the perpetrator brought to court.

The 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report of the US State Department for Jamaica states that traffickers increasingly use social media platforms and false job offers to recruit victims. It added that local experts report the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend as traffickers adapted by seeking methods to recruit individuals, especially children, in their own homes.

It further stated that officials opened investigations into 61 cases, 48 involving sex trafficking, six involving labour trafficking, and seven involving unspecified forms of trafficking, compared to the previous reporting period when officials opened investigations into 60 cases — 55 involving sex trafficking and five involving labour trafficking.

The Government also identified and assisted 29 likely trafficking victims. Of that number, 10 girls were identified as victims of sex trafficking. An additional four girls and seven boys were identified as victims of labour trafficking.

Seasoned child psychologist Dr Orlean Brown Earle shared that she has worked on multiple cases where a child was targeted by an online predator and trafficked. She shared that oftentimes, children fall prey because child traffickers are patient and take time to cultivate relationships before they make their move.

“They would have developed a relationship with the child — they know the child’s school, they know the problems at school, they know the problems at home — and then they say, ‘You know what, I think you need to come to [a fast-food restaurant] and have lunch after school,’ and then that’s how it starts. They grab them and do whatever they want with them,” said Dr Brown Earle.

“It [child trafficking] starts with grooming, and that’s what we want people to understand — that it’s not just an overnight thing. They are groomed over a period of time, sometimes one month, sometimes one year,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Sexual grooming is when a person builds a relationship with a child, young person, or an adult who’s at risk so they can abuse them and manipulate them into doing things.

The clinical psychologist noted that during this stage, predators extend a great deal of kindness to their targets to build trust. She said that they particularly look for individuals who are from a modest financial background, promising them money in exchange for sexually explicit content or labour.

Additionally, Dr Brown Earle said predators will try to discover a child’s insecurities and shower them with praise in that regard.

If a child refuses to comply, she said predators will go as far as to threaten the child and make them think that they have no other means of escape.

The clinical psychologist said child trafficking can cause survivors to experience post-traumatic stress disorder and extreme feelings of guilt.

“Unless they get into therapy early, weeks or even months down the road, they are going to have feelings of guilt. They’ll become so secretive that they become poorly socialised because they feel like they must protect themselves from everybody and everything around them. They’ll also have poor relationships because they feel threatened and are afraid to trust,” she explained.

Dr Brown Earle implored parents to be actively involved in their children’s lives and monitor their social media usage on all accounts.

“We have to say to the parents: ‘Whether or not you want to check your children’s account, you buy the tablet, you buy the computer, it is yours.’ We need to be more attentive. ‘If you don’t know how to do it, you need to find a relative or a friend who can, because children are naive and they don’t understand that these people don’t mean them any good,’ ” said Dr Brown Earle.

BROWN EARLE…it [child trafficking] starts with grooming, and that’s what we want people to understand — that it’s not just an overnight thing

National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons Diahann Gordon Harrison (Photo: Joseph Wellington)