The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, conducted an official country visit to the Bahamas from 9 to 11 December 2013. She acknowledges the willingness of the Government to combat trafficking in persons, as reflected by the ratification of relevant international legal instruments and the enactment of domestic legislation in that area, as well as the establishment of a multisectoral mechanism to address the issue. She further notes the recent efforts made in prosecuting traffickers.

Despite the positive steps taken by the Government, the Special Rapporteur observed a number of challenges, including: the absence of a comprehensive assessment of the phenomenon at the national level, coupled with low awareness and understanding of trafficking in persons among the general population; the absence of a national plan of action to effectively combat trafficking in persons; and the restrictive immigration policy, which leads to the criminalization and expedited deportations of potential victims. She further expresses concern with regard to the limited capacities of frontline officers in identifying victims of trafficking, and underlines the weakness of the victims’ assistance programme, which is ad hoc rather than institutionalized.

The Special Rapporteur makes various recommendations to the Government, in order to enhance its capacity in addressing trafficking in persons in the Bahamas and in providing appropriate assistance to victims of such crime.

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