Stakeholders in Human Trafficking Fight Welcome Novel

A new novel on human trafficking is being hailed by stakeholders as a welcome addition to the arsenal in the fight against the crime.

‘The Girl In the Shadows’, penned by former youth ambassador Tameka Hill, is a deeply moving and eye-opening work of fiction that shines a light on the heartbreaking reality of human trafficking.

It tells the story of young girls whose lives were stolen and controlled in a shadowy network of depravity and exploitation.

Miss Hill, who served as spokesperson on human trafficking as youth ambassador and did extensive research on the global issue for her post-graduate qualifications in Communications and International Development, uses her knowledge on the subject to tell the story in a compelling way, highlighting the lengths traffickers will go to for power and profit.

Director of the Child Labour Unit in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Tameisha Udosen, said that the book “provides another opportunity for us to add one more tool to Jamaica’s anti-trafficking toolkit”.

“The fact of the matter is, we recognise that in order to effectively combat the issue of trafficking in persons and child trafficking, it requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. It requires a multidisciplinary approach,” she said, in her remarks at the recent launch of the novel at the National Housing Trust (NHT) corporate offices in New Kingston.

Miss Udosen said she anticipates that the book will enable the public to have a bona fide understanding of the realities of human trafficking in Jamaica, noting that many persons are unaware of the devastation of human dignity and well-being that trafficking in persons causes.

Manager of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Secretariat in the Ministry of National Security, Audrey Budhi, said that given the gravity of the crime, it is important that persons are aware of the various elements of human trafficking, and are properly equipped to identify such activities.

“This is where this book plays a crucial role,” she said. We hope it will help to inform and educate,” she added.

Former Head of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit, Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Carl Berry, in his remarks, said it is hoped that the author’s words will help to transform the current landscape to make the fight against human trafficking more action-oriented.

He said that “our collective force” is needed to further spur the momentum towards the protection of would-be victims and to identify and rescue persons who are in situations of exploitation.

For Miss Hill, the inspiration to write the book was based on the need to “truly illuminate the sheer severity of this atrocity”.

She noted that many artistic works on the issue glorify the very crime they are intending to expose often relegating the victims to the background.

“They gloss over the victims, who are rendered invisible and overlooked in their own stories, but my directional approach to writing aims to reclaim their lost visibility to give them a face,” she shared.

She noted that the characters are interconnected, their experiences reflecting a shared humanity that allows persons to see “ourselves in their plight”, that they are no longer just victims, but girls, individuals, stripped of their freedom, their lives, their futures.

“When I wrote about these different girls, I tried to ensure that each person could connect with a particular girl,” she said, noting that she wanted the reader to reach beyond the boundaries of their own experience to understand the pain and suffering of the victims.

She said it is hoped that the book will not only create awareness but ignite interest and foster change.

“My hope is not merely that this book will be read, but that it will act as a catalyst, a spark, that ignites and ultimately contributes to a world where the shadows hold the potential to bring order to chaos,” she says.