Dear Editor,
The media coverage of Minister Simona Broomes’s expedition to Bartica – during which time some twenty odd women were reportedly “apprehended” by officers from the Guyana Women Miners Organisation and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit – has clearly highlighted the need for much more education and training, particularly of media operatives and authorities interviewed by the media, about what Trafficking in Persons (TIPS) means and the way that victims of trafficking are treated.
Newspaper and internet headlines all described what had taken place as a human trafficking raid, but most of the coverage was given over to describing where the women came from (and it is time that journalists learn that the Dominican Republic and Dominica are two different Caribbean countries!), and how many of them had overstayed their time in Guyana or entered the country illegally.
The fact that almost half of those “apprehended” are reportedly being charged with immigration violations – and this despite the fact that Minister Broomes reportedly assured the women that they had nothing to be afraid of − raises questions about precisely what the purpose of the raid was.
It is significant that the sex workers coalition representative said that based on the reports coming out so far, this is an attack on prostitutes as opposed to addressing trafficking. One would expect that those who have made the difficult choice to enter into sex work as a living – a decision that must be respected – would help the authorities to identify persons who are being held against their will or deceived into entering into prostitution.
But if what the state is doing is persecuting prostitutes – and this is what reports of the recent raid look like, from picking up some 20 odd women, charging about half for being in Guyana illegally, carrying photos of the women as if they are criminals to be shamed and blamed – then all this will do is send sex workers underground where they will face even more unsafe conditions of work.
The TIP unit will also lose an important opportunity to work with prostitutes in the fight against trafficking.
Everywhere in the world anti-trafficking in persons campaigning too often serves as a cover for the pursuit of sex workers and “ïllegal immigrants.”
Now that Minister Broomes, as Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, is part of the government with access to the resources of the state, it is important for her to realize that her ministry is doing the work against trafficking a disservice if instead of addressing the systemic factors that create the conditions for trafficking to exist and flourish, the official focus is on these individual rescue missions that receive such irresponsible coverage from the media. We also urge the Minister to ensure that her mandate addresses other sites and forms of trafficking in Guyana that do not always involve prostitution – child and domestic labour, for example.
Yours faithfully,
Karen de Souza
Alissa Trotz
Andaiye
