By Cassandra Khan
MINISTER of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, on Friday, disclosed that her ministry has developed a hand signal that can be used by someone who is a victim of trafficking so that they can signal for help if they are in public.

“I thought that maybe sometimes people are not able to transmit the message that they’re being trafficked and are not able to say to somebody, ‘I need help’. But, if we develop a hand signal… they can show it; but you need to recognize it,” Minister Persaud said.

The Human Services Minister noted this at the MHSSS’s Counter Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Unit awareness walk and exhibition in observance of World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2022 on July 30.
Additionally, Minister Persaud related that a series of public service announcements (PSAs) will be done to make the signal widely known across the country. The signal is simple and entails the opening and closing of the right or left hand three times.

“Look for those PSAs, share it on your social media, share it wherever you can so that we can raise awareness as we ask for the signal for help, because trafficking in persons does not only occur by itself, many times you have some elements of domestic violence,” she said.

Minister Persaud added: “Many times it is accompanied by some form of abuse. So, we need to make sure that when trafficking occurs, we are able to take action, strong action.”
She related that trafficking in persons exists and, most times, even though it may be right in front of us, we may not recognize it.

“I like to say… it is the most invisible form of modern day slavery. It robs a person of their rights. It robs the person of their freedom and it robs them of every opportunity that they have for self-development,” she stated.
Additionally, in many cases, she said, people are trafficked for years, and in many instances they remain in the clutches of a perpetrator who shows no remorse, so we need to encourage people to report trafficking in persons as it is the only way that we will be able to help someone who is being trafficked.

Meanwhile, the Head of the ministry’s TIP Unit, Tanisha Williams-Corbin, said that for 2022, 230 alleged victims have already been identified and assisted.
Corbin noted that human trafficking is a grossly underreported crime so she is encouraging all Guyanese to report using the hotline number.

She shared that there are nine types of trafficking. These are domestic servitude, sexual slavery, child soldier, prostitution of another, child marriage, forced begging, forced labour, illicit removal of organs, and servile marriages.

According to Corbin, 187 law enforcement officials, 98 members of government agencies, and 28 members of the private sector have been trained by the TIP Unit to deal with trafficking encounters.
Additionally, she said the TIP Unit is bringing back an initiative from years ago in which they will be working with the Ministry of Tourism to reach out to hotels and bars to do extensive work.
To report a suspected case of Human Trafficking, call the hotline on 227-4083, 623-5030 or 624-0079 (Spanish).