Human trafficking: an uncomfortable reality

Published in the Catalyst, Vol. 32, No. 1 - Winter 2009

To many of us, “human trafficking” conjures up pictures of the European slave trade, with rickety ships plying trade routes carrying human cargo in one direction and the fruits of slave labour in another. Or it suggests Eastern European mobsters preying on women in devastated job markets following the demise of communism.

It doesn’t sound like something that happens in modern day Canada.

But the truth is, human trafficking happens here. Canada is a destination and a source country, as well as a transit country for trafficking in persons. And that is something that should make us all uncomfortable.

Coercion and exploitation

The United Nations (UN) defines human trafficking as “recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them.” Exploitation can include prostitution, forced labour, or even the removal of organs.

Between 1 and 4 million people are trafficked annually, according to the UN. The RCMP estimates that 800 people are trafficked into Canada every year. An additional 2000 people are believed to be smuggled into the United States via Canada. However, because numbers are drawn from police reports (involving police raids or people seeking asylum), the real numbers are probably much higher.

Human trafficking is often confused with migrant smuggling, but while they often both involve illegal entry into a country, human trafficking is characterized by coercion rather than a voluntary choice to be displaced. Sometimes, victims of human trafficking do believe they are making a free choice, only to find themselves trapped in a coercive situation.

Human trafficking does not only occur across borders. Victims within Canada are forcibly displaced and made to work in prostitution or drug trafficking as well. Young Aboriginal women appear to be particularly targeted, recruited on reserves and brought to major urban centers like Vancouver, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton and Calgary.

In Canada, racism, sexism and poverty make Aboriginal women more vulnerable to trafficking. In fact, the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women included a strategy on Aboriginal poverty among its recommendations to combat trafficking in a 2007 report.

Overall, victims of trafficking can be women, men and children. While poverty, lack of education and lack of decent job opportunities are all factors that make someone more vulnerable to being trafficked, victims can also be well-educated children of middle-income families.

Recruitment

Trafficking in persons is the third biggest illegal market globally, behind drugs and arms. Perpetrators include organized crime and entrepreneurial individuals.

Recruitment takes various forms. Many people confronted with a lack of jobs or limited opportunities respond to ads offering all-expenses paid trips to Europe or North America for high wage jobs. Upon arrival, they are stripped of their passports and forced to work off the cost of their trip. Sometimes poor families are targeted with offers allowing them to sell their children in exchange for economic security.

A common method of recruiting young women is men posing as boyfriends who dazzle them with money and opportunity and make them feel special, before suddenly forcing them to change locations and grooming them for the sex trade. In Canada, this recruitment can even begin on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Addressing root causes

Trafficking is a violation of fundamental human rights. It commodifies people created in the image of God, violating their dignity and subjecting them to exploitation, violence and abuse. Trafficking harms the health and well-being of its victims, physically, emotionally and psychologically. Many are victims of physical violence and abuse, which combines with psychological manipulation to make people feel vulnerable and afraid of seeking help.

Although it is against the law, dealing with human trafficking through the criminal justice system is not enough. We must also focus on the violation of human rights and dignity, offering care and support to victims, including measures allowing them to stay in the country rather than being deported back to vulnerable situations.

Responding to trafficking must also address the context in which human trafficking takes place: inequality, poverty, lack of opportunity, racism and sexism. Attending to root causes will truly take care of the symptoms.

To date, Canada does not have a strong record on addressing trafficking. Canada signed the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons in 2000, but took two years to ratify it. In November 2005, trafficking was officially added to the Criminal Code as a specific offence. However, Canada has no strategy to deal with trafficking. Canada does not even coordinate tracking of trafficked persons, lacking any formal cooperation between police and NGOs and shelters that deal with victims of trafficking.

Canada needs to improve its record on trafficking, especially as there are concerns that the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver will bring about an upswing in trafficking, especially for Aboriginal girls. As citizens, we need to highlight the issue as a concern, creating the context for trafficking to be viewed as a fundamental violation of human rights and thereby ensure appropriate measures will be taken to protect victims and to prevent exploitation.