80% of Ja’s human trafficking victims are children – Gordon Harrison
Published:Tuesday | October 14, 2025 | 12:06 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
Jamaican children are more at risk of being trafficked than any other group, according to Diahann Gordon Harrison, the national rapporteur on trafficking in persons.
From 2020 to 2025, more than 80% of persons trafficked in Jamaica were children, while just over 19% were adults, Gordon Harrison disclosed.
She was delivering the main address at the Jamaica Baptist Union Historical Society’s 22nd annual George Liele Lecture on Sunday at Mamby Park Baptist Church in St Andrew.
Gordon Harrison, a former deputy director of public prosecutions, said that, in 2021, all 10 victims of human trafficking in Jamaica were children. That figure increased to 11 in 2022, rose to 13 in 2023, and fell to 10 in 2024. So far in 2025, there have been four recorded victims.
Her data comes months after the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) reported in August that 70% of persons trafficked in Jamaica since 2006 have been children. The CPFSA also indicated that most of the victims are girls exploited by people they know.
Gordon Harrison said that, from 2020 to 2025, some 55 persons were prosecuted in Jamaica for human trafficking. Of that number, 17 were convicted – 11 men and six women.
She told the audience that the prime targets were children between the ages of 11 and 17.
Pointing out that trafficking in persons is a global industry, Gordon Harrison said the estimated earnings from the activity amount to more than US$150 billion.
Trafficking does not always involve the movement of people.“It can take place in the homes. It could be that woman working in a bar or youngsters on the street corners collecting money,” Gordon Harrison said.
The children’s advocate added that trafficking is the largest form of organised crime in the world, and includes the trafficking of people for their organs.
Speaking about her office, Gordon Harrison said that, under Jamaica’s anti-trafficking law, there are five Ps – prevention, protection of victims, prosecution, partnership and policy – aimed at identifying trafficking and bringing offenders to justice.
She explained that human trafficking is fundamentally about exploitation, noting that 73% of victims are trafficked for sex, with labour being the next highest category.
“In Jamaica, more men engage in human trafficking but more women are assuming a greater role in the trafficking of humans. They are using their nurturing skills to lure people, especially children, for human trafficking,” she said.
Gordon Harrison also raised concerns about Jamaican students who travel abroad for studies and may become vulnerable to trafficking if they lack financial support.
Children from low-income families and unemployed persons are especially vulnerable, and people who are unemployed and looking for a better life are very susceptible to being trafficked, she said.
Gordon Harrison listed forced criminality, cyber trafficking, forced marriages, debt bondage, domestic servitude and organ harvesting as key areas where people are trafficked.