Belize

8. Protection from Slavery and Forced Labour

1. No person shall be held in slavery or servitude.
2. No person shall be required to perform forced labour.
3. For the purposes of this section, the expression "forced labour" does not include-

a.any labour required in consequence of the sentence or order of a court;

b.labour required of any person while he is lawfully detained that, though not required in consequence of the sentence or order of a court, is reasonably necessary in the interests of hygiene or for the maintenance of the place at which he is detained;

c.any labour required of a member of a disciplined force in pursuance of his duties as such or, in the case of a person who has conscientious objections to service as a member of a naval, military or air force, any labour that that person is required by law to perform in place of such service; or

d.any labour required during any period of public emergency or in the event of any accident or natural calamity that threatens the life and well-being of the community, to the extent that the requiring of such labour is reasonably justifiable in the circumstances of any situation arising or existing during that period or as a result of that accident or natural calamity, for the purpose of dealing with that situation.

Constitution of Belize (PDF)

157. Forced Labour

In this Part-

“forced labour” means all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily, provided that the term “forced labour” shall not include-

(a) any work of a purely military character or service exacted by virtue of compulsory military service laws;

(b) any work or service which forms part of the normal civic  obligations of the citizens of a fully self-governing country;

(c) any work or service exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law, provided that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations;

(d) any work or service exacted in cases of emergency, that is to say, in the event of war or of a calamity or threatened calamity, such as fire, flood, famine, hurricane, earthquake, violent epidemic or epizootic diseases, invasion by animal, insect or vegetable pests, and in general any circumstance that would endanger the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population;

(e) minor communal services of a kind which, being performed by the members of the community in the direct interest of the said community, can therefore be considered as normal civic obligations incumbent upon the members of the community provided that the members of the community or their direct representatives shall have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services.

158.- Prohibition of Forced Labour

(1) No person shall impose or permit the imposition of forced labour.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraphs (b) and (c) of the proviso to section 157 no person shall impose or permit the imposition of forced or compulsory labour-

(a) as a means of political coercion or as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system;

(b) as a method of mobilising and using labour for purposes of economic developments;

(c) as a means of labour discipline;

(d) as a punishment for having participated in strikes;

(e) as a means of racial, social, national or religious discrimination.

(3) Any person who imposes or permits the imposition of forced labour is guilty of an offence.

199. General Penalty

Any person who commits an offence against this Act for which no special penalty is otherwise provided shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars or to a period of imprisonment not exceeding six months.

Labour Act (PDF)

57. Forcible Abduction for Marriage

Every person who takes away or detains against her will a female of any age with intent to marry or carnally know her, or to cause her to be married or carnally known by any other person, shall be liable to imprisonment for thirteen years.

58. Compulsion of Marriage

Every person who by force or duress causes any person to marry against his will shall be liable to imprisonment for two years.

59. Special Provision as to Abetment

Every person who, knowing that any of the crimes mentioned in

sections 54 to 58 has been committed in the case of any person, abets the unlawful detention of such person, or otherwise abets the execution of the intent with which that crime was committed, shall be deemed guilty of that crime.

60. Abandonment of Infant

Every person who, being bound by law or by virtue of any

agreement or employment to keep charge of or maintain any child under five years of age, or being unlawfully in possession of any such child, abandons such child by leaving it at a hospital or workhouse, or at the house of any person, or in any other manner, shall be liable to imprisonment for two years.

Criminal Code (PDF)

Article 2 Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires –

“debt bondage” means the status or condition of a debtor from a pledge by the debtor of his personal services or those of any person under his control as a security or payment for debt, when the length and nature of services is not respectively limited and is not clearly defined or the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or where the length and nature of those services are nor respectively limited and defined;

“exploitation” means –

• Keeping a person in a state of slavery;
• Subjecting a person to practices similar to slavery;
• Compelling or causing a person to provide forced labour or services;
• Keeping a person in a state of servitude, including sexual servitude;
• Exploiting another person by using such person, directly or indirectly, as a prostitute;
• Engaging in any form of commercial sexual exploitation, including pimping, pandering or procuring prostitution, or profiting from sexual prostitution, maintain a brothel, or engaging in pornography or strip tease dances where females or males dance nude r in a state of semi-nudity; or
• Illicit removal of human organs;

“forced labour” means labour or services obtained or maintained through force, threats of force, or other means of coercion;

“practices similar to slavery” has the meaning assigned to it in the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; and includes debt bondage, serfdom, forced servile marriages and delivery of children for exploitation;

“servitude” means a condition of dependency in which the labour or services of a person are provided or obtained by threats of harm to that person or another person, or through any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause that person to believe that, if the person did not perform, someone would suffer harm;

“slavery” means the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the rights of ownership are exercised;

“trafficking in persons” means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person by means of threat or use of force or other means of coercion, or abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or abuse of a position of vulnerability, or by the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control of or over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Article 11 Offences of Trafficking in Persons

• A person who engages in, conspires to engage in or attempts to engage in, or assists another person to engage in, or organizes or directs another person to engage in, trafficking in persons commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term of eight years.
• Where the victim of the offence of trafficking in persons is a child, the offender is liable on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term of twelve years.
• The recruitment, transportation, harbouring, receipt of a child, or the giving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control of a child, for the purpose of exploitation, constitutes trafficking in persons irrespective of whether any of the elements of the definition of “trafficking in persons” is present or not in any case.

Article 12 Trafficking in Children for Adoption

A person who engages in the adoption or facilitates the adoption of a child for the purpose of trafficking in persons, commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment, to a fine of five hundred thousand dollars or imprisonment for a term of ten years or to both.

Article 13 Offence of Facilitating Child Prostitution etc

• A person who, for the purpose of trafficking in persons, acts as an intermediary to induce or encourage or facilitates another to give or promise remuneration, gifts, goods, food or other benefit to a child or any person having authority or control over a child for the purpose of inducing, encouraging, compelling or otherwise getting that child to participate in any sexual activity with the person so remunerating, commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term of ten years.
• A person who, being a person in authority or exercising control over a child, for the purpose of trafficking in persons, takes advantage of his authority over that child and sexually exploits that child or causes another to sexually exploit that child, commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term of ten years.

Article 14 Offence of Facilitating Exploitation etc

A person who, for the purpose of trafficking in persons, causes, encourages or facilitates a child, to participate in an activity, whether sexual or not, by way of exploitation, for which that person receives remuneration or compensation from a third person, commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term of eight years.

Article 15 Offence of Profiteering from Trafficking in Persons

A person who knowingly profits from the exploitation of a victim of trafficking in persons commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of eight years.

Trafficking in Persons Law Act 2013 (PDF)

Note: Criminalises the facilitation of prostitution of children under 18 years of age. This law, however, allows for 16- and 17-year-old children to engage in sexual activity in exchange for remuneration, gifts, goods, food, or other benefits if there is no third party involved.