News 13

Human trafficking: the face of modern slavery in BC

Andrew Kenway
Team Member

here should be no doubt to any

right-minded Canadian that human
trafficking is one of the most despicable
and long-running industries to date. This
frustratingly prevalent and harmful industry
is surprisingly difficult to police. Human
trafficking has taken some of the most
unforgivable human rights violations and-
-according to The Guardian’s Mary Goudie—
turned them into a 32 billion dollar industry.
Slavery of any kind has been illegal in Canada
for some time; however, it remains an active
process.

With the release of the CBC’s new report
about Kailey Oliver-Machado—a fifteen-
year-old pimp, who finds herself being tried
as an adult— this industry is clearly far
more complex than the average Canadian
might think. Her case proves that the issue
of human trafficking is more prominent,
more complex, and more difficult an issue
in Canada than anyone would like.

There are charities and groups working

to combat human trafficking, but the
breadth of this international industry
requires more attention than Canada

has afforded it thus far. The Office to
Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP) has
been actively fighting the industry since
2007, but their resources are limited.

As stated in a Cornell paper by Patrick Belser,
“The ILO [International Labour Organization]
found that almost 2.5 million people who are
exploited by private agents and enterprises
are in forced labour as a result of human
trafficking,” and that “more than half of
trafficking is for forced sexual exploitation.”

What might shock some British Columbians is
how common it is here in our own province.
For a more local sample, Surrey’s Servant’s
Anonymous Society has more chilling
numbers from Vancouver. Not only do they
claim that there is at any given time about
500 prostitutes under the age of 17 walking

Vancouver’s streets, but that anywhere
from 20-50% of the sex-trade is visible above
ground the rest happening underground. If
this much is known about the industry, then
why is human trafficking so hard to stop?

Winnipeg Conservative MP Joy Smith, an
anti-trafficking advocate, told the CBC that
“T think too many are getting away with
t... basically because it was under the
public radar screen, police weren’t trained
for human trafficking.” This is something
that is being remedied as best as possible
by Canadian authorities, and the a law
in 2005 was a good start. However, in the
same article an anonymous victim of the
industry claimed “the law did not protect
her, and the justice system doesn’t see
trafficked women as the victims of crime.”

Human trafficking is incredibly hard to pin
down, and appropriately regulating it and
prosecuting the men in charge requires

a reform that is still in its infancy here

in Canada—as seen by Mozami being the
very first man convicted for the crime
here in BC. The SAS’s findings also show
that victims who manage to escape the

life of a forced sex worker are beset by

a host of other problems. PTSD affects

68% of these workers, and the children
involved are considerably more likely to
engage in substance abuse and violent
crimes. People who have gone through the
harrowing experience of the sex trade were
raised under have unique circumstances
that may not be suited for the Canadian
Government’s current social programs.

There are charities around Canada that
focus on trafficked workers, such as SAS, the
Alliance Against Modern Slavery, and Walk
With Me. However, these organization’s
resources are imited. If Joy Smith is right
and Canadian law enforcement just isn’t
prepared, it needs to be known that this is
an important issue to the public. It is not
Canada’s job to police the world, and it would
be delusional for Canada to try and control
the international trade single-handedly.

This does not, however, mean that there is
nothing that can be done. There is already
a variety of publically available awareness
campaigns, and a variety of guides on what
to look for in airports, bus stops, and other
travel-oriented places. There are resources
to help the public identify forced child and
other unwilling sex workers. While it may
be incredibly frustrating that Mozami was
the first man to be convicted of human
trafficking in BC, it is also a sign that the
system may finally start working. A single
conviction--while far from making a dent

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in the human trafficking industry—may

be the start of many more, if we’re lucky.
Canada cannot single-handedly tackle

the human trafficking industry in its
entirety on an international level. However,
Canadians--and British Columbians--can
educate ourselves and help raise awareness
and funds for the issue and hopefully put

a serious dent in this industry by starting
to eliminate it from our province.

Full article at overtheedgenewpaper.ca

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