Invisible chains, p.25
Invisible Chains, page 25
An action plan for provincial and territorial governments
While some provincial governments have recognized the problem of human trafficking and their responsibilities to assist and protect victims, many continue to ignore their obligations. It is particularly alarming and unacceptable that the most populous province, Ontario, has no comprehensive system in place to assist trafficking victims. To combat human trafficking, provincial and territorial governments should ensure that they take the following steps:
• Designate a single point of contact for each region within a province to coordinate services for domestic and foreign victims of human trafficking—either a government office like the B.C. Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons or an NGO like ACT Alberta. Victims cannot be expected to navigate the bureaucracy of governmental and non-governmental programs designed to assist them and risk falling through the cracks. Every known victim should be assigned a case manager who will be an independent advocate and support person throughout recovery and reintegration, assisting the victim to make decisions and access needed services from NGOs and government.
• Review provincial laws, regulations, and policies, amending them as necessary, to ensure that both foreign and domestic trafficking victims are eligible for protection services, shelter, health care, legal advice and representation, and economic assistance, all of it culturally, age, and gender appropriate. Foreign victims should receive at least the same services as refugee claimants.
• Combat the demand for human trafficking by funding police investigations that target sex act purchasers, including their arrest, prosecution, and car confiscation where a vehicle is used in the commission of the offence.
• Establish guidelines for the use of John Schools, as proposed in Chapter 15; draw on child protection legislation to investigate and prosecute suspected purchasers of sex acts with minors; and launch public awareness campaigns about the harms associated with purchasing sex acts.
• Fund and support “exit” programs that help prostituted persons leave the sex industry. This assistance should include detox support and counselling, job training, employment opportunities, and housing support.
• Train front-line professionals (nurses, child protection officers, social workers, immigration settlement agencies, and NGOs) in how to detect and assist victims of human trafficking as well as conduct outreach to affected communities, particularly First Nations and ethnic communities.
• Incorporate preventive educational information about child sexual abuse and exploitation into school curricula. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has already developed age-appropriate material for this purpose.
• Ensure that both foreign and domestic victims of human trafficking are eligible for criminal injuries compensation programs and other victim support services and that they are able to sue their abusers under provincial law.
• Train Crown prosecutors about new human trafficking offences and appoint specialized lawyers to prosecute the crime.
• Amend Crown prosecution manuals to include guidelines for human trafficking cases that ensure the rights of victims are respected and prosecutors recommend sentences to reflect the gravity of this crime. Prosecutors should be instructed to demand the seizure and forfeiture of all assets and proceeds of the crime, as well as to seek restitution (compensation) for victims as part of the sentence handed down against convicted traffickers and their accomplices.
An action plan for local police
Local police officers in our cities and towns are key front-line players in the battle against human trafficking. Most municipal police forces in Canada, however, do not have sufficient resources and officers to combat human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in their communities, allowing traffickers to operate with impunity.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police and others have called for greater resources and action by local police forces to identify and investigate human trafficking. In Canada, local police forces should adopt the following measures:
• Conduct department-wide training on human trafficking for dispatch staff, school liaison officers, and new recruits, among others.
• Educate the community about the crime of human trafficking.
• Identify government and non-profit agencies that assist victims, and develop collaborative relationships.
• Contribute to integrated law enforcement teams that identify, assist, and protect victims, and to investigate and prosecute their traffickers.
• Increase capacity in vice units, including resources and officers for investigating human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
• Provide specialized training for vice unit officers, including victim identification, investigative tactics, analysis of psychological effects and the mindset of trafficking victims, and advanced interviewing techniques.
• Investigate suspected cases of human trafficking within their jurisdiction, including online, and liaise with neighbouring police agencies.
• Initiate sting operations to prosecute individuals attempting to purchase sex acts, using relevant legislation to seize vehicles used in the commission of the offence.
• Recommend charges of human trafficking when reasonable grounds exist to believe the offence has been committed, and assist with actions to seize the proceeds of the crime and charge associates of the trafficker.
• Reach out to at-risk individuals and potential victims through youth intervention programs, school liaison initiatives, and protocols like those used by the Boston and Dallas police forces, as discussed in Chapter 16.
• Ensure that officers who respond to prostitution-related complaints or reports of domestic disturbances document and investigate possible indicators of human trafficking.
An action plan for businesses
Sweden’s experience has proven that law enforcement agencies alone cannot eradicate exploitation. Since social, cultural, economic, and often racial factors play a part, involving a wide cross-section of society in the battle against human trafficking can reduce its incidence and impact. So what about private enterprise? Human traffickers use hotels, taxicab companies, airlines, websites, weekly magazines, and so on to facilitate their crimes—frequently without the knowledge of these companies.
Almost fifteen thousand companies worldwide have signed the Athens Principles to End Human Trafficking Now, a global initiative launched by Egypt’s first lady, Suzanne Mubarak. The goal is to acquire millions of signatories by enlisting the companies supplying the offenders to ensure they play no part in human trafficking. The Athens Principles commit companies to the following:
1 explicitly demonstrate the position of zero tolerance toward trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, for sexual exploitation
2 contribute to prevention of trafficking in human beings, including awareness-raising campaigns and education
3 develop a corporate strategy for an anti-trafficking policy that will permeate all corporate activities
4 ensure that personnel fully comply with the anti-trafficking policy
5 encourage business partners, including suppliers, to apply ethical principles against human trafficking
6 call on governments to initiate a process of revision of laws and regulations that are directly or indirectly related to enhancing anti-trafficking policies
7 report and share information on best practices
Sex traffickers use some specific businesses, including travel and tourism, to exploit their victims, and many such businesses have begun to take action. The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (www.thecode.org) is an example of a sector-specific initiative to combat sex trafficking of children. Tourism service companies that adopt the code agree to
1 establish an ethical policy regarding sexual exploitation of children
2 train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations
3 introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children
4 provide information to travellers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket slips, homepages, etc.
5 provide information to local “key persons” at the destinations
6 report annually to the Code of Conduct Secretariat
As of November 2009, a total of 947 companies in 37 countries around the world had signed the Code of Conduct. Unfortunately, among Canadian firms, only the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Incursions Voyages (Quebec City) have signed on so far.
All companies should have explicit corporate policies that prohibit employees from purchasing sex acts while travelling on company business or when using corporate assets. The policy should be clear that disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, is the consequence. Companies that are even more proactive have partnered with NGOs to offer training and jobs to survivors of human trafficking.
An action plan for parents
Criminal networks in Canada frequently recruit underage girls for sex trafficking, in some cases making initial contact through social networking websites. “Kids in the Know,” an online resource guide from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (www.kidsintheknow.ca), offers age-appropriate information and strategies to help protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. It provides parents with ideas on how to talk with their children about sexuality, dating, and the internet.
Understanding the difference between a loving relationship and a controlling one is among the most difficult and important challenges for young people who are starting to date—often years before their parents may know about their activities. As we’ve seen, domestic sex traffickers routinely seek to convince their victims that they are in boyfriend–girlfriend relationships, while the attention is merely part of the psychological manipulation or grooming process.
We learned in Chapter 15 that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has developed an entire curriculum for school-aged children and made it available to school boards. If your child’s school has not included education on preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation in the curriculum, you or your parents’ advisory council could insist that it take this important step.
Internet safety for kids
Few parents would let their children go out alone late at night in the worst part of town, yet children with unrestricted access to the internet are at comparable risk. Cybertip.ca recently listed the following top five risks to Canadian children on the internet as a result of actions by sex offenders:
1 targeting online games with chat rooms
2 hijacking instant messaging (IM) accounts and coercing children to send nude or partially clothed images of themselves, a practice that has doubled in recent years
3 using 3-D animated characters (avatars) to engage youth in online conversations
4 invading social networking sites where children and youth are encouraged to create online diaries and connect with new people
5 encouraging youth to send nude images to peers without understanding the images could be forwarded or permanently posted online
In response to these risks, the Family Online Safety Institute (www fosi.org) has developed the “Family Online Internet Safety Contract,” which sets out expectations and commitments from both parents and children to ensure a safe online experience.
Parents should discuss safety tips with their children and warn them about the risks of life online. The following tips for Canadian children and youth come from the “Kids in the Know” campaign:
• Keep your personal information to yourself and off the internet.
• Check with your parents before sending any photographs online.
• Obtain your parents’ approval before meeting someone in person whom you met on the internet. Remember to meet in a public place and bring a trusted adult with you.
• Inform your parents before entering a chat room. Remember that people on the internet are not always who they say they are.
• Trust your instincts. If something does not seem right or makes you uncomfortable, speak to a trusted adult.
• Talk with your parents about what you are doing online and who you are speaking with.
Community responses save lives
Identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking takes a community response from NGOs, faith-based organizations, and average Canadians. In January 2010, four Filipina women were rescued in Vancouver with the help of members of a Roman Catholic Church, a local NGO, the police, and the B.C. Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP). Their exploitation could very well have continued, however, had it not been for an average Canadian who first identified the case.
In 2009, the four women had entered Canada legally in response to a promise of work from a businessman in Calgary. Once in the city, however, they were confined to a hotel owned by their “employer,” and their passports were seized. He demanded that the women work up to sixteen hours a day—and for little pay—as cleaners and in the hotel gift shop. Heavily supervised, they were unable to interact with outsiders during work hours and then were transported to a second location at night. They were directed to clean their employer’s home and provide manicures, pedicures, and massages to the employer and his family. Any complaints about their treatment produced threats.
In late 2009, the four women were transported to a hotel in Vancouver, also owned by their employer, where they performed the same services under the same conditions, except that they were permitted to attend church on Sundays. Fortunately, a member of the church congregation who recognized the signs of human trafficking befriended the Filipina visitors. The Filipinas confided enough in this woman to set off warning bells, and she put them in touch with a member of the church who was part of a committee to stop human trafficking.
The church contacted Robin Pike, executive director of OCTIP, who acted promptly. Within twenty-four hours, the Filipinas were in a specialized NGO shelter and had access to a lawyer. CIC swiftly issued temporary residence permits for the women, who qualified as forced labour trafficking victims with access to the Interim Federal Health Program. Meanwhile, the hotel owner fled Canada with the women’s passports.
This case, in which community members collaborated in treating the women as victims, not criminals, should serve as a model for future initiatives. The road to freedom for these Filipinas started with an average Canadian who knew enough about human trafficking to glimpse the invisible chains that bound these women, even as they knelt in church asking God to help them.
An action plan for you
If you’ve read this far, you know the horror and extent of human trafficking, and the trauma and damage it inflicts on children and adults all over the globe and right here in Canada. Now you can set this book aside– or you can do something about it.
Here are the top ten initiatives you can take to fight human trafficking:
1 Tell someone.
Share what you’ve learned in this book with a family member, friend, or colleague.
2 Help the heroes.
Support organizations that help survivors by volunteering your time, language abilities, or professional skills. Donate money, clothes, or equipment to them, and perhaps plan a fundraising event to help one of the organizations listed in the Appendix.
3 Raise awareness.
Host an awareness event with your friends, work associates, church group, or service club to tell them about human trafficking and commit to doing something to address the problem.
4 Call for change.
Email, call, or write a letter to your municipal, provincial/ territorial, and federal politicians asking what they’re doing to address the problem of human trafficking, and ask them to implement the recommendations for government shown above—they’re supposed to be working for you, after all.
5 Take a stand.
Become an advocate for at least one recommendation in this book that you personally want to see adopted. The will to end exploitation must be marshalled for laws, policies, and programs to be reformed as part of the solution.
6 Let your dollar talk.
Buy fair trade products where possible and, if you can’t be sure, avoid products whose makers are notorious for using forced labour, as shown below:
Global blacklist of forced labour trafficking products
A 2009 report by the U.S. Department of Labor identified 122 common goods from 58 countries that ranked among the worst for forced labour or child labour. The most problematic were cocoa, cotton, and rubber. Here are ten products made by forced labour trafficking victims (for a weblink to the complete list, see the Notes at the end of this book):
Brazil nuts from Bolivia
Christmas decorations from China
Coffee from Côte d’Ivoire
Diamonds from Sierra Leone
Garments from Malaysia
Gold from Burkina Faso
Cocoa from Nigeria
Rice from India
Shrimp from Thailand
Sugarcane from the Dominican Republic
7 Speak up.
Raise the issue of human trafficking in letters to the editor, at political debates, in the classroom, and at town hall meetings.
8 Be a woman against human trafficking.
Talk to your husband, boyfriend, partner, or male friends and family members about the realities of women and girls exploited in the sex industry.
9 Be a man against human trafficking.
Don’t pay for sex or go to places where commercial sex acts take place, either in Canada or when travelling abroad, and discourage your friends from doing so if you’re invited to go along to such places. Explain your concerns.
