Sgt. Dan Ste-Marie, RCMP (Ottawa)
Statistics:
· Estimates on the number of people trafficked each year range between 800,000 and 4 million.
· The industry is said to be worth 11-12 billion dollars—this puts it on par with trafficking in guns and drugs.
· Of the victims of human trafficking, 80% are women and 50% of those are under 18.
· Women in the sex trade: girls often have to service between 5 and 7 hundred men before paying off the debt they owe.
· Just in Toronto 100 girls are being supplied yearly to the sex trade. These firls will produce approximately 5 million dollars in profits.
· Health concerns: Of 12 Korean girls who were found at the border in the process of being smuggled into the country as part of the sex trade, 80% had tuberculosis.
· Of those being trafficked into Canada, most are from Asia-Pacific and, in particular, the Fujan region of China.
Nature of the Industry:
· This is an extremely clandestine industry. A trafficking victim’s journey from the point of origin into North America can take up to two years and involve stops up to eight different countries.
· He gave the example of one route: Fujan (China) - Vietnam—Egypt—South America—Europe—Mexico—United States.
· Trafficking is a violent business. Subjects can be forced to perform sex acts, and food and drink are often kept from them. Creates a culture of fear that makes victims unlikely to go to authorities.
· Victims are often threatened with the safety of their family back home if they refuse to perform what is asked of them.
Problems for Law Enforcement Agencies:
· Question: how do you determine if someone is really a trafficking victim? Sometimes they come in on a tourist visa and then are forced into work. Secondly, their documents are often taken away from them 0 this is a tool of control used by the traffickers. These factors make identifying and helping victims extremely complicated.
· Because of the decentralized nature of the industry, the long travel times and the many points of transit it is extremely difficult to backtrack and find way up the chain to the head of the operations.
· Furthermore, you have delays in working with authorities in the countries of origin. Sometimes the officials themselves are involved, and in some countries the framework to facilitate such investigations does not exist (no wiretapping laws for example).
· Another problem: cultural distrust of law enforcement officials.
· Human trafficking investigations—can take up to a year or a year and a half, up to four years by the time it makes it to court.
· There exists no internationally agreed upon definition of human trafficking.
· There is very little deterrence for traffickers—the sentences handed out are often very light.
· NGOs can be hesitant to work with the police. Sergeant Dan Ste-Marie argues that the RCMP must rebuild this trust so that society can deal better with the victims.
· Another factor complicating investigations is that some victims are arrested by their own governments upon being sent back. This makes them reluctant to cooperate with authorities in Canada.
· Stockholm syndrome—victims have psychological and emotional dependency on their traffickers, identify with them more than anything else.
· Most victims suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome. This can distort and taint the evidence that they give, making prosecution more difficult.
· The language barrier. The RCMP does have interpreters, but getting them at the right time can be difficult.
The Canadian Situation Today:
· There is no federal money to help victims of traffickers. RCMP has been the only body that has been trying to help by making connections with civil society in this area. But its resources are limited and much more needs to be done.
· Canada has a Human Trafficking Centre designed to help prepare RCMP and other police officers for dealing with these issues so that everyone is on the same page. Developing protocols that can be followed by local police forces, as these organizations are usually the first to come into contact with the trafficking victims.
· Highlights that not many people know about presence and effects of human trafficking in Canada. Education is essential.
· The government passed Bill C-49 late last year. It incorporates specific trafficking offenses into the criminal code. Gives local police more involvement.
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