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OAS to assist Guyanese officials in combating trafficking in persons

  October 12, 2010

Trafficking in persons is a modern-day form of slavery and a violation of basic human rights involving coercive sexual exploitation, forced labor and involuntary servitude, among others. On October 14 and 15, the Organization of American States (OAS) will train 50 police, immigration officials, prosecutors and judges in Georgetown, Guyana, to increase their awareness of this crime and strengthen their efforts to prevent and combat it.

The OAS program, “Strengthening the Capacity of Law Enforcement Officials, Judges and Prosecutors in the Caribbean to Identify and Combat Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children,” is being implemented in 13 English-speaking countries of the Caribbean. Specifically the program hopes to strengthen the capacity of police, prosecutors and courts to implement laws to combat trafficking; increase the exchange of information between the various Caribbean agencies working to combat human trafficking; and improve the capacity of law enforcement officers to protect and provide assistance to victims.

This 2-day training seminar, led by OAS anti-trafficking in persons experts, will look at such areas as the distinction between trafficking and smuggling; crime scene management; victim identification, assistance and protection; standard operating procedures for immigration control; understanding the gender perspective as part of the human rights framework; and how trafficking in persons affects men, women, boys and girls in different ways.

This program has been made possible with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

For more information, please contact the Department of Public Security of the OAS at www.oas.org/dsp.

Reference: E-377/10