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A few weeks ago, the Belize government contacted me to start talking about how our organization could work with them to begin addressing human trafficking issues.
I was encouraged that a high-placed government official had made the initial overture and I agreed to begin discussion on how we could work on common cause to stop easy passage of trafficked women through Belize. Our position regarding the link between human trafficking and forced prostitution had been made more than clear in our online messages. It was also clear that our position drew a lot of its strength from the eyewitness accounts of the more than 100 trafficked girls our organization had hunted and recovered.
A national police raid of ficha bars in San Pedro had occurred several weeks before initial contact from the government representative. After the raid, the chief of the country’s Criminal Investigation Branch had condemned the town as the site of a human trafficking ring, promising more action on human trafficking.
I was, therefore, disappointed and concerned that the government representative wanted to deny and debate the significant rate of human trafficking and forced prostitution in Belize. Sadly, in all of our contacts with him, he would not even agree with his own government that forced prostitution was a serious issue in need of address.
He preferred the term “voluntary” prostitution to describe the majority of women in the trade. He never once used the words “human trafficking.” It seemed odd that other top Belize officials were not afraid to use the term. The raid had been ordered from the top tiers of government, so clearly they think there’s a problem and, therefore, actioned the raid
It was proving unproductive to speak with a committed human trafficking denier.
Add to that, he felt that the best thing for us to do was to turn our PR campaign, as he dubbed it, into a pro Belize movement. He proposed to us that we immediately stop the Belize tourism boycott and use our online machinery to focus on all the positive actions taken to combat human trafficking and assist its victims.
Positive actions? Where are they? No human trafficking convictions since 2005. No enforcement of liquor licensing laws that make bar owners liable for a fine for allowing prostitution on their premises. Few if any have been fined under this law. The list of black marks goes on. The list of so-called positive actions is very short and the results questionable.
Take for example the thousands of dollars raised by Human Development CEO Judith Alpuche for a shelter in Belize City. It’s ready and equipped, but remains closed. It’s not clear how many identified trafficking victims she helps as she is mandated to do.
Granted, there was the recent CSEC symposium hosted the first lady. Mrs. Kim Barrow Hosts National Symposium on CSEC This was her second symposium and it did highlight the overall issue of protecting children from sexual exploitation. Human trafficking was included as a topic at the symposium. While we applaud the first lady for her attempts, few results can be anticipated from this conference. She must understand clearly the battle she has before her. Please keep going Mrs. Barrow you have a large ocean to cross. We are firmly on your side.
In our communication with the government official, I also asked some questions regarding the follow-up to the San Pedro police raid. For example, what happened to the human trafficking victims remanded to Hattieville? What happened to the minors? Why was the manager of one of the busted bars charged with human trafficking and not the owner? I got no answers from him and had to wait a few weeks to get some answers through limited media coverage of legal follow-up to the police raid.
Again, I was disappointed with our government contact. We have some strong concerns about accusing the Guatemalan manager, though she’s since been released on bail. From our point of view, it seems that it’s a lot easier for Belize to deflect this, blaming a Guatemalan for being in Belize rather than getting to the heart of their human trafficking problem. We know the person who should really be charged with human trafficking is a local person of somewhat prominent status on the island. This is a person who is close to Mayor Paz and her brothers and enjoys their protection. Nothing’s going to happen to that bar owner on that Island.
In my last exchange with the government official, he suggested I sit down with CEO Alpuche and begin discussions with her. We declined to speak with her as she is not someone who has made any inroads on behalf of human trafficking victims even though she’s been given the responsibility and money to do so. And, she is not a decision-maker.
I concluded that I could not continue talks with a human trafficking denier. Particularly when his own government had to already acknowledged the problem. I have asked this official to escalate us to government decision-makers. I assume he has passed on the message to his higher-ups.
We reaffirm our commitment to work in partnership with Belize government to address human trafficking of women into involuntary prostitution.
