Jamaica has again been ranked as a tier two country for human trafficking by the US State Department which has cited inadequate efforts to prosecute trafficking offenses and protect victims.
In its ninth annual Trafficking in Persons Report released Wednesday, the US described the island as a source, transit, and destination for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
The report says the majority of victims are poor Jamaican women and girls, and increasingly boys, who are trafficked from rural to urban and tourist areas for commercial sexual exploitation.
It says the victims are typically recruited by persons close to them or through newspaper advertisements promoting work as spa attendants, masseuses, or dancers, but that after being recruited, victims are coerced into prostitution.
According to the State Department report, Jamaican children also may be subjected to conditions of forced labour as domestic servants.
Child sex tourism in resort areas has been identified as a problem.
The report also notes that women from the Dominican Republic, Russia, and Eastern Europe who have been trafficked into Jamaica's sex trade have also allegedly been forced to transport illegal drugs.
Some Jamaican women and girls have been trafficked to Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, and other Caribbean destinations for commercial sexual exploitation.