Ministerial Taskforce extends outreach to Female inmates

DPI/GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Female inmates of the New Amsterdam Prison were the latest beneficiaries of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) ongoing campaign. This is part of the of TIP Taskforce country wide campaign aimed at building awareness to prevent persons from being trafficked.

Acting Taskforce Coordinator Oliver Profitt during an interview with the Department of Public Information/Government Information Agency (DPI/GINA) said the campaign is a part of the National Plan of Action 2017/2018.

According to Profitt, “some of them (female inmates) might be there for drug offences and when they get out, they might be in a situation where they are looking for finances and a lot of the times traffickers would target females”.

The fact that females are more vulnerable to TIP than males is one of the reasons Profitt explained for the unit’s interest in taking their awareness campaign to the female prison adding that their chances for exploitation is far greater as they search for a better life.

Profitt pointed out that it is, “not to say that only females can be trafficked because we know that anybody can be a victim, but a lot of times they can be targeted especially if they are in a situation where they have financial difficulties. So, we thought that knowing that some of them might be coming out soon we want to ensure (that)we impart some information to them and make them aware of what could be the possibilities when they get out so that they can protect themselves and others”.

Additionally, Profitt highlighted that their campaign in Region Six proved to be fruitful as the unit received information which requires action to be taken by the unit.

Profitt explained that, “we had some persons come forward and give cases, like they would have heard a friend that went through this situation and when they think about it this might be trafficking in persons… so the awareness that we share with them, it did help them to come forward with some of that(information) and also we did have some persons give us information that we plan to act on in the future”.

The awareness campaigns are a part of National Plan of Action for the prevention and response to Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 2017/2018, which includes measures and activities to enhance the prevention of TIP, protection of victims and the prosecution of suspected offenders.

 

By: Isaiah Braithwaite