While Guyana maintains its Tier 1 standing given the “serious and sustained efforts” undertaken in the fight against Trafficking in Persons (TIP), government has been called out for its failure to provide adequate out of town protection and shelter to victims, the decrease in prosecutions and the low successful conviction rate.
The US State Department’s 2018 Trafficking in Persons report said that the government fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking as a result of increased funding for victim assistance, identification and assistance of more victims for the third consecutive year, and the opening and operating of a trafficking shelter outside of the capital.
“Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not provide adequate protection and shelter outside the capital, or for child and male victims. The number of trafficking investigations and new prosecutions decreased, and the number of successful convictions remained low,” the report, however, states.
