This Second Edition reviews legislation and government policy related to combating human trafficking in eight Caribbean countries: The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles, St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.  This review has assessed the applicability of existing statute law for the prosecution of human traffickers, the protection of trafficking victims and the prevention of trafficking activities. This includes criminal provisions that constitute one or more elements of the trafficking process such as procurement, forced detention, prostitution, sexual offences, kidnapping, abduction and other offences against the person. These elements can then be used in combination as a “patchwork” replacement for a trafficking law. Employment law is examined to ascertain the rights of workers and the capacity to penalise employers for exploitative activities. In addition, immigration laws have been assessed to deduce whether immigration officers have any legislative basis for identifying and taking action against suspected trafficking activities. These laws have also been examined in terms of how they offer protection to victims of human trafficking. Other areas relevant to trafficking activities include asylum law, as a possible source of protection for victims, and money-laundering initiatives that offer an insight into the possibilities of combating transnational crime.

The Second Edition of the Legal Review is divided into two parts and includes new appendices. Part I consists of the legal review of seven countries from the First Edition published in 2005 and Part II consists of the legal review of Trinidad and Tobago that was conducted in 2006. A new appendix was added, consisting of the Caribbean Regional Counter-Trafficking Model Legislation that IOM developed in 2008 in partnership with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Legislative Drafting Facility and CARICOM Member States.