Jamaica

Amends the original Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Suppression and Punishment) Act. Increased penalty from ten to twenty years to ensure that punishment for such an offence was commensurate with punishment for offences such as forcible sexual assault. The legislation was also amended to include an expanded definition of “exploitation” to include offences similar to human trafficking such as carnal abuse and rape; as well as, to include circumstances where a person is kept in debt bondage.

Allows victims of crimes such as sexual assault and abuse to give evidence without having to face the perpetrator in court.

The National Policy for Gender Equality outlines Jamaica’s commitment towards gender equality. It encapsulates the different outcomes expected in order to achieve gender equality. A national policy on gender would encourage the Jamaican community to recognize that development, as a multidimensional process, must involve the reduction of gender inequalities as an integral element of achieving broadbased equitable growth. This would contribute to good governance by highlighting and integrating the concerns of women and men in all of the Government’s development policies, plans and programmes. In this respect, a national policy on gender would provide an enabling environment for achieving the goals of fairness and socio-economic justice for women and men in keeping with the objectives of Vision 2030.