| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Saint Lucia In 2010, the Counter-Trafficking Act was passed in Saint Lucia and it contained victim protection provisions, such as privacy measures, the ability to testify via video link, and witness protection, to encourage victims to participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. The law also provided for victim restitution and other compensation in cases of traffickers’ conviction. The government did not report using these provisions during the reporting period. Foreign victims had the same access to care as domestic victims, and the government could assist foreign victims seeking repatriation. The Act was amended in 2021. There was only one reference to legislation in St. Lucia during the reporting period. In this instance, the government granted citizenship to a Sri Lankan trafficking victim and began processing a citizenship application from another Sri Lankan trafficking victim who held refugee status; the case remained pending at the end of the reporting period. The 2010 Counter-Trafficking Act criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment or fines up to 100,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars (XCD) (USD$37,040) for offenses involving an adult victim; the maximum imprisonment penalty increased to 10 years’ imprisonment for those involving a child victim. 2021: The government conducted one trafficking investigation under the Counter-Trafficking (Amendment) Act during the reporting period, compared with none in 2020 and three in 2019. The case involved two Saint Lucian children taken to France; the government requested France’s cooperation with the investigation, which remained ongoing at the end of the reporting period. • 2022: The government conducted four sex trafficking investigations, compared with one trafficking investigation in 2021, none in 2020, and three in 2019. The government initiated one sex trafficking prosecution under the anti-trafficking law, the first prosecution since 2015. The Magistrate held a hearing on the case in February 2023 and the matter was advanced to the High Court; the suspect was on bail awaiting trial at the end of the reporting period. The government has never convicted a trafficker. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes. Highlights from TIP Reports •
58 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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