During parliamentary debate on a landmark bill aimed at cracking down on sexual offences against minors, Antigua and Barbuda’s top law enforcement official has pulled back the curtain on a disturbing pattern of abuse plaguing the nation’s workplaces: the systemic exploitation of young female employees by predatory bosses.
Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin brought the underreported issue to the floor of parliament this week as lawmakers considered the Sexual Offences Amendment Bill 2026, a legislative package designed to stiffen penalties for perpetrators and expand legal safeguards for vulnerable victims of sexual violence.
In blunt, candid remarks to the chamber, Benjamin detailed how employers in multiple sectors are leveraging their positions of power to coerce young women into sexual compliance, tying professional and financial security directly to inappropriate demands. One common abusive tactic he called out is the explicit linking of salary increases to sexual favors, with bosses weaponizing young workers’ financial vulnerability to force compliance. “Some employers take advantage of these girls by saying you want a raise. If you want a raise, you must raise yourself,” Benjamin told lawmakers, highlighting the cruel, exploitative quid pro quo many young women face.
Under current legislation, Benjamin explained, existing provisions already criminalize sexual activity between an adult employer and a minor employee who works under the employer’s direct supervision, or who relies on the employer for wages, regardless of how those earnings are disbursed. These rules are explicitly structured to address the inherent power imbalance that exists when an adult employer controls the livelihood and working conditions of a young minor worker. The proposed 2026 amendments build on this existing framework to further strengthen penalties for offences and close gaps in legal protections that have left some vulnerable young workers without adequate recourse.
Benjamin stressed that any proven use of institutional authority to coerce a young worker into sexual activity will automatically result in a criminal conviction for the offending employer. “Once the evidence shows, Mr. Prime Minister, that you use your position, exactly, to force sex on a person like that, you are guilty of an offence,” he emphasized. The public acknowledgement of this widespread abuse comes as lawmakers move to update the nation’s sexual offence statutes, with a clear focus on better protecting minors from exploitation in workplaces and other settings where power imbalances put young people at risk.