Human Trafficking in [Canada Street Children in [Canada] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Canada] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Canada [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] Canada is
principally a transit and destination country for women and children
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Women and
children are trafficked mostly from Asia and Eastern Europe for sexual
exploitation, but victims from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the
Middle East also have been identified in Canada. Many trafficking victims are
from Asian countries such as South Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and
Vietnam, but some victims are trafficked from Romania, Hungary, and Russia.
Asian victims are trafficked more frequently to Vancouver and Western Canada,
while Eastern European and Latin American victims are more often trafficked
to Toronto and Eastern Canada. A significant number of victims, particularly
South Korean females, transit Canada before being trafficked into the United
States. Some Canadian girls and women are trafficked internally for
commercial sexual exploitation.
- U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2007 [full country
report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Aboriginal women fair game for predators amid public indifference Untold scores of society's most
vulnerable members - young native women - have gone missing across the
country only to be forsaken by a jaded justice system and neglectful media.
The death and disappearance of aboriginal women has emerged as an alarming
nationwide pattern, from western serial murders to little-known Atlantic
vanishings. Grim statistics and anecdotal evidence compiled by The Canadian
Press suggest public apathy has allowed predators to stalk native victims
with near impunity. Human
trafficking in Vancouver Women become trapped in sex trade
after being lured to city with false promises. Imagine being beaten, forced into sex work,
and told you’ll be killed if you try to escape. The constant threat of
violence means you’re too scared to go to the authorities, but even if you
did, there’s little chance of retribution for your attacker. This might sound like something that would
happen in a third-world country, or during some bygone era, but it’s
happening now in Vancouver, and is a reality for many victims of human
trafficking. “I can’t understand why Canada
hasn’t successfully prosecuted a single person for human trafficking when you
look at other countries like the U.S., Australia, and the U.K.,” says Perrin.
“We’ve made the same commitments and been to the same conferences, but Canada
has been all talk and no action. We’re just beginning to turn the corner;
we’re where other countries we consider ourselves in the same league as were
10 years ago. We’ve had a decade of inaction on this and it’s allowed
traffickers to profit; we need to make it more risky and less profitable for
them.” ***
ARCHIVES *** Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS –
Thousands of persons entered the country illegally over the last decade.
These persons came primarily from East Asia (particularly China and Korea,
but also Malaysia), Central and South Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin
America and the Caribbean (including Mexico, Honduras, and Haiti), and South
Africa. Many of these illegal immigrants paid large sums to be smuggled to
the country, were indentured to their traffickers upon arrival, worked at
lower than minimum wage, and used most of their salaries to pay down their
debt at usurious interest rates. The traffickers used violence to ensure that
their clients paid and that they did not inform the police. Asian women and
girls who were smuggled into the country often were forced into prostitution.
Traffickers used intimidation and violence, as well as the illegal
immigrants' inability to speak English, to keep victims from running away or
informing the police. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2003 [52] The Committee is also
concerned about the increase of foreign children and women trafficked into
Canada. [53] The Committee recommends … Social
networking sites used for human-trafficking - Hundreds of Albertans get
targeted each year They do most of their recruiting
on social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, choosing naïve or
vulnerable victims for “grooming” who are right around 18 years old in order
to avoid detection by authorities looking for predators after underage kids. After four or five dizzyingly
spectacular dates, the predator will invite her to a private party. She will be gang-raped and
subjected to unspeakable humiliation. She might be drugged. “Her ‘boyfriend’ will tell her what’s
expected of her,” Galvin said. “She’s told the event will occur anyways. She
can either fight or submit to it, but it’s going to happen.” She will be threatened with death if she
goes to police. Her family might also be threatened. Human
trafficking an issue in Canada Human-trafficking is not issue
that gets a lot of attention in Alberta simply because most people think it's
an international issue with international victims, Trompetter said. But it happens more often than people
think, she said. "We have national trafficking of Canadian women,
especially in the aboriginal communities. In the prairie provinces, there is
a lot of activity going on. Girls are being recruited on reserves and brought
into the big urban centres like Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton and
Calgary to work in prostitution."
A study by the federal standing committee on the status of women last
February found aboriginal females are at greater risk of becoming victims of
trafficking. Erin Wolski, of the
Native Women's Association of Canada, told the committee aboriginal females
are "extremely vulnerable." Human
trafficking in Vancouver Women become trapped in sex trade after
being lured to city with false promises
Imagine being beaten, forced into sex work, and told you’ll be killed
if you try to escape. The constant threat of violence means you’re too scared
to go to the authorities, but even if you did, there’s little chance of
retribution for your attacker. This
might sound like something that would happen in a third-world country, or
during some bygone era, but it’s happening now in Vancouver, and is a reality
for many victims of human trafficking. “I can’t understand why Canada
hasn’t successfully prosecuted a single person for human trafficking when you
look at other countries like the U.S., Australia, and the U.K.,” says Perrin.
“We’ve made the same commitments and been to the same conferences, but Canada
has been all talk and no action. We’re just beginning to turn the corner;
we’re where other countries we consider ourselves in the same league as were
10 years ago. We’ve had a decade of inaction on this and it’s allowed
traffickers to profit; we need to make it more risky and less profitable for
them.” Reforming
Canada’s Record on Human Trafficking A young woman answers a job ad
that offers a prepaid air ticket and glamorous work as an international
model. She leaves home -- perhaps from a city in Eastern Europe or Southeast
Asia. Upon arriving in Canada, she
discovers to her horror that she has been lured into the sex trade and faces
“debts” that she must now pay off. Somehow she escapes her captors and looks
for help. The authorities detain, interrogate and then deport her. Until recently, this was how Canada
routinely treated human trafficking victims -- as illegal migrants, says
Benjamin Perrin, an assistant professor who joined the UBC Faculty of Law in
August. Organized Crime and Human Trafficking in Canada: Tracing Perceptions and Discourses [PDF] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The review of the cases reveals
that, in spite of the judiciaries’ implicit acceptance of the official and
counter discourse vis-à-vis the trafficking of women for the purposes of
prostitution by organized crime, judgments are, for the most part, marked by
a lack of sensitivity to the cultural, economic and social reality of
undocumented migrant workers generally and to the reality of exploitation,
violence and stigma experienced by sex trade workers more specifically.
Moreover the documents are interpreted in a manner that renders the majority of
claimants outside the discourse and hence not entitled to the consideration
afforded ‘victims’. In particular the extrajudicial and potentially moral
question of whether the women knew they would be working in the sex trade is
rendered significant. It would appear that embedded in the sex slave/sex
worker dichotomy is another dualism – innocent/culpable. Therefore women who
are unaware that they will participate in the trade are potentially protected
while women who experience severe labour abuse are held accountable for their
situation regardless of the exploitation they may experience. In short the
‘sex slave’ discourse may operate against the interests of many irregular
migrant sex trade workers by obscuring their exploitation at the same time as
it renders exploitation the defining characteristic of others. Canada's
New Government Strengthens Protection for Victims of Human Trafficking The Honourable Diane Finley,
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today introduced new measures to
help assist victims of human trafficking brought into Canada from
abroad. The new measures extend the
length of the temporary resident permit (TRP) for victims of human
trafficking to 180 days, up from 120. This extension also allows victims to
apply for a work permit - an option not previously available. The new measures will also continue to
allow victims of human trafficking to receive health-care benefits, including
medical treatment and counselling services, under the Interim Federal Health
Program. F1
fuels human trafficking, activists say Last year, Canada was singled out
in an international study for failing to meet its obligations for the
protection of victims of human trafficking. The 40-page study, titled Falling Short of the Mark: An
International Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking Victims,
concluded that out of the countries evaluated - Australia, Canada, Germany,
Italy, Norway, Sweden, Britain and the United States - only Canada and Britain failed to meet
their obligations to protect victims under the United Nations Trafficking
Protocol and international best practices. Falling Short
of the Mark: An International Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking
Victims [PDF] CANADA - Canada has systematically
failed to comply with its international obligations under the Trafficking
Protocol for the protection of victims of human trafficking. There is no evidence it has considered providing for
the protection of victims in the manner obliged under the Trafficking
Protocol. Canada.s record of dealing with trafficking victims is an
international embarrassment and contrary to best practices. This is despite
being the first jurisdiction in this Study to have ratified the Trafficking
Protocol almost four years ago on May 13, 2002. Canada has ignored calls for
reform and continues to re-traumatize trafficking victims, with few
exceptions, by subjecting them to routine deportation and fails to provide
even basic support services. The situation in Canada is so bad,
with respect to a failure to provide basic support to trafficking victims,
that individual law enforcement officers are attempting to approach local
hospitals and NGOs to cobble together funding to provide the most basic
medical assistance for these victims in major Canadian cities. Winnipeg
police to draft human trafficking policy The average model is 14 years old,
the Winnipeg-based Crawford said, and some of them are vulnerable to abuse by
recruiters, agents and photographers. Crawford says she has seen or
heard of girls being raped, used as prostitutes or sent to work in
bars. Ewatski acknowledged that
human trafficking as a crime has come to Winnipeg, although not to the same
extent as larger centres such as Vancouver and Montreal. MP
calls for action to combat human trafficking Smith explained that women from other
countries are promised a better life in Canada, and once they are brought
here their documents are taken away and they are forced into the sex trade.
The same is true, Smith said, for Canadian women who have pursued modelling
careers abroad. Human-trafficking
bill introduced A Canadian teenager signs up for a
modelling program and, unbeknownst to her parents, is forced to have sex with
strangers while travelling in Europe. A Mexican woman is smuggled into Canada
illegally, and turns tricks against her will above a downtown Toronto
drugstore. The RCMP estimates that 800-1,200 people in Canada, the vast
majority of them women, are victims of human trafficking each year, but
non-governmental organizations peg the number in the thousands. Local
Sex Crime Conference Focuses On Human Trafficking And the crime that so often
happens in the background is more present than any of us would like to think.
Numbers from the Mounties suggest between 600-800 people are
'trafficked' to Canada every year.
Many of those being victimized are prime targets for the despicable
entrepreneurs - young women from third-world countries that have high
rates of poverty, violence, illiteracy and political and economic instability. But it's not just the more stereotyped
"sex slaves" that you often read about. While that's number one on
the list, the vulnerable can also become prisoners of domestic servitude, the
farming and fishing industry and sweat shops. Human
trafficking not just a big city problem: RCMP Human trafficking is becoming a
bigger concern all the time, he said, and it often involves forcing people
into the sex trade or making farm workers and nannies work long hours for
little money. MacIver said it's not
talked about much in small towns, so people may think it doesn't exist. "They are not aware of it and not
educated about it," he said.
According to the RCMP, between 800 and 1,200 people are victims
of human trafficking in Canada each year, most working in forced labour or
the illegal sex trade. Human
trafficking victims face immigration barriers Hundreds of children, men and women
believed to be bought and sold in Canada every year in what amounts
to a life of slavery face large hurdles to stay in the country
legally once they escape their captors.
Conservative RCMP estimates show that between 800 and 1,200 people are
victims of human trafficking in Canada each year, with most ending up working
in forced labour or the illegal sex trade. University
College of the Fraser Valley expert testifies "We have to create an
environment in which it is safe for victims to come forward and seek
help," he said, keeping in mind that they are "seriously at risk of
reprisal or intimidation" from their captors here in Canada while their
families face "terrorism" back in their homeland. Successful human traffickers have
become adept at using various simple but very effective methods of
psychological control over their victims," Dandurand said. "They
know how to break a victim's self-confidence and self-efficacy, crush their
hopes, and condition them to resign themselves to a life of exploitation in
which they are trapped." Border
guards uncover human trafficking network Six Korean women, who were
potential victims of human trafficking, have returned to Korea after they
were discovered hiding in a bush at the Osoyoos border crossing. Human
Trafficking Could be Huge Issue During 2010 Olympics Typically, traffickers lure women
with promises of jobs that will supposedly pay them many times what they
would earn in their home country. But
the reality is they’re forced to work as prostitutes in massage parlours and
must repay thousands of dollars in debt for living expenses and forged
passports. Non-governmental organizations
say women are sometimes kidnapped, beaten and drugged before being brought to
Canada for an industry that involves low risk and high profits for the
traffickers. Government and police
officials are aware of the problem and concerned about the potential the
Games pose for traffickers. HEADLINES - HUMAN TRAFFICKING: CANADA TO ASSIST VICTIMS - The Future Group, a Canadian NGO, said in March that Ottawa did a terrible job of helping human trafficking victims and usually deported them. Immigration Minister Monte Solberg, who said the report "was a wake-up call", said victims would be given temporary residence permits valid for 120 days and were eligible for health-care benefits. At the end of that period they could either return to their home country or apply for another permit valid for up to five years. New government
revisits visas for exotic dancers The new application stipulates
changes to the employment contracts, making work in Canada safer for foreign
women than before. Some changes include: longer employment contracts (one
year rather than the former three months), 30 guaranteed hours of work per
week, dancers keep all gratuities and tips, no physical contact between the
dancer and patron, the employer must assist the employee with applying for
public health care and insurance coverages, and the employer must also pay
for transportation from and to the dancer's home country. Canada an
“International Embarrassment” on Sex Trafficking Canada and the United Kingdom have
been singled out in an international study for failing to meet their
obligations for the protection of victims of human trafficking, while other
developed countries received praise for their efforts. Of the countries evaluated:
Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the
United States, only Canada and the UK failed to meet their obligations to
protect victims under the United Nations Trafficking Protocol and
international best practices. Child-sex ring uncovered in Winnipeg, police allege Sgt. Kelly Dennison said about 20
girls – aged 12 to 17 – were sold into prostitution. Dennison said the other children younger than
age 12, including a baby of only 18 months, weren't necessarily forced to
perform sexual acts but may have been exposed to them because they lived in
the houses where they were taking place. MP tears strip off
Liberals, Feds continue to allow exploitation, Tory says Diane Ablonczy accused the
government of misleading Canadians last year when it claimed to be
"canceling" the controversial policy of issuing temporary work
permits to exotic dancers based on a labor market opinion from the Human
Resources department. But the
"sordid truth" is that the welcome mat is still rolled out to
foreign strippers, she told the House, citing a Sun story over the weekend. Aboriginal
women fair game for predators amid public indifference Untold scores of society's most
vulnerable members - young native women - have gone missing across the
country only to be forsaken by a jaded justice system and neglectful media.
The death and disappearance of aboriginal women has emerged as an alarming
nationwide pattern, from western serial murders to little-known Atlantic
vanishings. Grim statistics and anecdotal evidence compiled by The Canadian
Press suggest public apathy has allowed predators to stalk native victims
with near impunity. Human
trafficking charges laid in B.C. A man in Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Hundreds
of foreigners lured in sex trade: RCMP At least 600 foreign women and
girls are coerced into joining the Canadian sex trade each year by human
traffickers, says a newly declassified RCMP report. As many as 2,200 other newcomers are
smuggled into the United States from Canada to toil in brothels, sweatshops,
domestic jobs or construction work, estimates the intelligence assessment
obtained by The Canadian Press. And
the RCMP says the numbers may represent just the tip of the proverbial
iceberg, as it is widely believed only one in 10 victims of trafficking
report the crime to police. Washington
state a hotbed for human trafficking, report says A new report says Washington state
is a hotbed for what many say is a modern form of slavery: human trafficking,
the recruitment, transportation and sale of people for labor. The state's international border with
Canada, its many ports, rural areas and dependency on agricultural workers
make Washington prone to such exploitation, according to the report. "It is such a hideous crime because
it's really slavery," said Bev Emery, who manages the state's Office of
Crime Victims Advocacy. "It's looking at and treating human beings as
though they are a commodity to be bought and sold." S.F.
parlor hit in crackdown on sex slave trade The two later told investigators
they had been smuggled from Canada into the United States in May and taken
directly to King's, where one of the managers allegedly paid $32,000 to the
person who had transported them. The two women said they briefly
escaped in August, but were soon found by the manager and two other workers,
returned to King's and beaten. LINKS
·
Research / Academic ·
Canadian non-governmental organisations ·
Intergovernmental organisations and initiatives ·
International non-governmental organisations ·
Federal departments and agencies members of the Interdepartmental
Working Group on Trafficking in Persons (IWGTIP) Helping
Honduran Children Return Home With support from the Human
Security Program, the International Organization for Migration and Covenant
House (Casa Alianza) have begun a pilot project that aims to repatriate and
re-integrate Honduran street children who have been trafficked to Canada and
the United States. Embattled
minister promises changes to exotic dancer rules "When you talk to the women
who are so desperate for a way out of [their] countries they say, 'Please
keep this program because it does provide us with an opportunity – as much as
we may not like it or approve of it – a chance of a better life.'" Sgro says once the women get to Canada they
often run into problems. "They don't have a lot of language skills and
they're ripe for exploitation." Canada Abruptly
Ends Special Visas for Exotic Dancers after Inquiries into Underage Strippers Today in the House of Commons,
Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan announced an abrupt end to the Canadian
scheme of arranging visas specifically for exotic dancers, or strippers,
which are used to fill positions at strip clubs in Canada. Those clubs, it
has been acknowledged even by club owners, are notorious for forced back-room
prostitution work. U.S., Canadian and Mexican Representatives Meet to Combat Sexual Exploitation Other newly released information from the Penn study shows that Canada is an easy gateway into the U.S. for sexually exploited children from China, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Central and Eastern Europe. "Due to relaxed border controls between the U.S. and Canada," Estes said, " trafficked children are able to be moved with comparative ease and meet with little or no official interference." This report analyses the legal
framework governing the hiring of immigrant live-in caregivers and the legal
status of mail-order brides who immigrate to Canada with a spousal or fiancée
visa. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Canada Street Children in [Canada] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Canada] [other countries]