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Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander - Photo by Angelo Marcelle"WHAT would I do if it were my daughter?" Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU) deputy director Dane-Marie Marshall asked listeners to mull on the plight of girls and women exploited in sex-trafficking. She gave a heartfelt address at the performance of an improvised play to mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2025 at Queen's Hall, St Ann's, on July 30.
Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander expressed his deep lament at the idea of under-age girls indecently entertaining grown men instead of playing with dolls.
"Are we doing enough? What else can we do? How can we protect our children and our women?" Alexander asked aloud.
The cast of performers, directed by Derron Sandy, presented Traffic in the Capital, portraying various scenarios where a vulnerable young woman (or man) might be unwittingly lured and trapped into sexual exploitation or forced labour.
In each scenario, Sandy invited an audience member on-stage to literally hold up a red flag in the air at any point in the skit where the potential victim was in a dangerous situation. The first public participant was radio personality Garth St Clair, later followed by an 84-year old pundit from central Trinidad. At one stage in the first skit an eager young woman was being interviewed for a bar job when the proprietor talked to an associate using code words, and suddenly told the interviewee the premises had a "no bag" policy as he tried to deprive her of using her cellphone.
In another skit, a potential employer seemed very friendly towards a migrant worker but soon the reality set in that the victim would be labouring for much less wage than expected.
Marshall, speaking ahead of the play, told invitees they were present not by accident but by their ability to influence the national fight against trafficking, one of the gravest crimes of our time.
"We, at the Counter Trafficking Unit, have always turned to the arts, not as a luxury, but as a necessity.
"In a world over-saturated with data, reports, and policy briefs, theatre does something exceptional: it pierces through desensitization.
"It moves the heart before it convinces the mind."
She said in a society as culturally rich as TT, the arts speak a language that every TT national understands, via rhythm, storytelling, or silence.
"Why theatre? Because human trafficking thrives in the dark, and theatre shines a light."
Marshall said the skits confront viewers with real-life scenarios based on actual CTU cases in TT.
"These are stories of sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. Stories that are often ignored because they are too ugly, too shameful, too complex. But tonight, we will not look away."
She said 2025 has been a year of unrelenting resolve.
"We began the year with intensified operations that resulted in victim rescues and arrests, sending a clear message to traffickers: 'We will find you, we will dismantle your operations, and we will prosecute you.'” She was proud TT had kept its Tier 2 status in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, a hard-earned upgrade after years on the Tier 2 Watch-list and a sign TT was moving in the right direction.
Marshall said, "Still, I ask: What good is policy without action? What good is awareness without accountability? And what good are numbers if we forget the names, the faces, the lives behind them?" She said human trafficking was not a distant crime, nor just a story in the news.
"It is a girl in Sangre Grande. A boy in Diego Martin. A woman in Couva. It is organized, profitable, and evolving. And it demands a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
"At the CTU, we have prioritized multi-agency collaboration, community sensitization, intelligence-driven operations, and victim support. But we cannot do it alone."
She offered guests a role in this mission, asking for collaboration from ministries and agencies, law enforcement partners, members of the Judiciary, civil society and NGOs, and foreign diplomats.
"To the students present, you are the generation that must say, No more.
"This performance is our act of resistance. It is a call to act, not just observe.
Quoting US poet Amanda Gorman's call to be brave enough to see the light, Marshall said, "Let us be that light. Let us shine it where the traffickers think we are blind!
"As you sit here tonight, I want you to ask yourself: What would I do if it were my daughter? My son? My friend?"
She lamented that for many victims, often a neighbour, an employer, or a customer, had seen something unusual but had said nothing.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” she said, quoting Edmund Burke.
She said this year the CTU's focus was sharp proactive investigations, victim care, and the use of strategic partnerships to extend its reach across sectors and borders.
"We’ve expanded our work with law enforcement, immigration, civil society, and international organizations, but the truth is, even with every agency mobilized, we cannot do it alone.
"This is why you were invited. Not merely to witness, but to engage. To lend your voice.
"To become an active part of this national defence, because make no mistake, this is a war. A war on organized crime. A war on silence. A war on the exploitation of human beings."
English (US) ·