The Anti-trafficking in Persons Unit (ATIPU) in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) is celebrating its 10th anniversary today Thursday, April 7th, 2022, under the theme “I deserve to be free, don’t traffick and exploit me”.
WEFM’s Activated Morning Show was recently joined by Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. Junior Simmons where he explained the importance of educating the more vulnerable members of our population about Human Trafficking.
“We went to all of the schools—primary, secondary, and tertiary on the mainland in the Grenadines and we sensitized every child, teacher about Human Trafficking, because we believe that the younger ones, they are the most vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking” he said.
He stressed that anyone can be victim of human trafficking but younger members of the population as well as females are especially vulnerable
ASP Simmons goes on to list the four Ps that the ATIPU focuses on when tackling the issue of Human Trafficking.
“We focus on Prevention, preventing the crime of human trafficking from even taking place; Protection, protecting the victims; Prosecution, ensuring that the human traffickers—they don’t get away with their crime, that they are prosecuted and convicted in the court of law; Partnership, and today we are partnering with WEFM to raise awareness about human trafficking, partnership is very important in this fight against human trafficking” ASP Simmons said.
There will be one week of activities to commemorate The Anti-trafficking in Persons Unit’s 10th anniversary, which will kick off today at 5 PM with a Virtual Lecture “Human Trafficking in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Confronting the Past, Preparing for the Future”, with Dr. Jason Haynes as the presenter.
