| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
TIP Legislative Overview Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda has laws criminalizing human trafficking. The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention) Act was enacted in 2010 to address this issue. The 2010 Trafficking in Persons (Prevention) Act criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking, and prescribed penalties of up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine for offenses involving an adult victim and up to 25 years’ imprisonment and a fine for those involving a child victim. 2021: The government initiated five trafficking investigations during the reporting period, one for sex trafficking, one for labor trafficking, and three for unspecified exploitation; this compared with zero investigations during the previous reporting period and 10 in 2019. The government did not report initiating any prosecutions for the second consecutive year, compared to three prosecutions in 2019. Authorities continued to prosecute three suspected traffickers from 2018; all three were on bail. The government did not convict any traffickers for the third consecutive year. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in trafficking offenses; in past reporting periods, police officers reportedly received administrative sanctions instead of being tried under the trafficking law. • Highlights from TIP Reports by the US State Department • 2022: The government initiated investigation of 12 suspects in 10 cases during the reporting period, including four cases of sex trafficking, four of labor trafficking, one case involving both sex and labor trafficking, and one case of unspecified exploitation; this compared with five trafficking investigations during the previous reporting period, no investigations in 2020, and 10 in 2019. The government did not report initiating any prosecutions for the third consecutive year. Authorities continued prosecution of one alleged sex trafficker initiated in a previous reporting period. Within the reporting period, the government never convicted a trafficker.
56 A Media Analysis of the Coverage of Youth Involvement in Crime and Violence and Trafficking in Persons (June 2021 to June 2023) in the Eastern Caribbean
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