CTU director: Strong TT demand for sex services

COUNTER Trafficking Unit (CTU) director Alana Wheeler said research shows that there is a strong local demand for sex services compared to other Caricom nations.
She was speaking Thursday at the weekly police media briefing at the Police Administration building.

She reported that academic research conducted in Caricom over the past year suggested that "unlike most other Caricom islands, sex trafficking in TT is driven by a strong local demand for sex services." The statistics showed that 81 per cent of the demand was from locals and not foreigners.

Wheeler said the CTU recently broke up a large trafficking network of minors from Venezuela to Trinidad. She said some perpetrators were still being looked for but some of those involved were local officers from the ranks of inspector to constable.

She said the main types of human trafficking in TT were sexual exploitation, forced labour and domestic servitude. Sexual exploitation is the most prevalent type of human trafficking cases in TT making up 85 per cent of all human trafficking in the country. Sexual exploitation makes up 59 per cent of global human trafficking according to a 2018 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report.

Wheeler said, during the covid19 stay-at-home period, the increase in online and social media usage has led to more online grooming and minors.