Nassau, Bahamas — On November 15, 2010 the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement hosted a seminar at the British Colonial Hilton on combating trafficking in persons, forced child labor, and child sex tourism.
Bahamian government representatives from the Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Immigration, Royal Bahamas Police Force, Royal Bahamas Defense Force, National Emergency Management Agency, Office of the Attorney General, and NGOs attended the seminar.
U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole A. Avant provided the keynote address and commended the Government of the Bahamas for their “increasingly proactive approach” to addressing this high priority human rights issue. Speaking to the need for an urgent and broad-based international response, Ambassador Avant noted that “the United States government is fully committed to ending human trafficking in all its forms by transforming public perception, and by working with law enforcement agencies and policy makers around the world to improve the protection of exploited men, women and children.”
Over this three-day seminar, participants and presenters will share information and best practices designed to bolster efforts to combat modern-day slavery. Experts from across the United States will share their experiences and struggles in human trafficking prevention, investigations, prosecutions, and victim assistance. Ambassador Avant concluded her remarks by imploring the participants to fight against this modern-day slavery “just as hard as we fought to end the slavery of the 19th century.”
