BPW London and submitted several human trafficking resolutions to all three levels of BPW: Provincial, National and International.

This page will be dedicated to updates on human trafficking.

Report on Human Trafficking in Canada 2009-10

United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 which is published in June classified Canada as a Tier 1.  It states that Canada is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.  Canadian women and girls, many of whom are aboriginal, are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation.  Foreign women and children, primarily from Asia and Eastern Europe, are trafficked to Canada for commercial sexual exploitation, but victims from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean have also been identified.  Many trafficking victims are from Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, South Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Ukraine.  

Canada is also a source country for child sex tourists, who travel abroad to engage in sex acts with minors.  Canada is reported to be a destination country for sex tourists, particularly from the United States.

The Government of Canada fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  During the past year, the Canadian government maintained strong victim protection and prevention efforts, and demonstrated modest progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders, securing five trafficking-specific convictions during the past year.  Law enforcement personnel reported difficulties with securing adequate punishments against offenders.

Recommendations for Canada:  Intensify efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and sentence trafficking offenders; increase use of proactive law enforcement techniques to investigate trafficking cases, including allegations of labor trafficking; increase efforts to investigate and prosecute Canadians suspected of committing child sex tourism crimes abroad; provide greater protection and services for foreign trafficking victims; improve coordination among national and provincial governments on law enforcement and victim services; and improve data collection.

Prevention:  The government maintained strong anti-trafficking prevention efforts in 2008.  The RCMP continued to conduct widespread awareness-raising activities, reaching approximately 4,000 civil society members, in addition to distributing anti-trafficking materials to law enforcement agencies.  The federal government partnered with the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association to launch a national awareness campaign encouraging the public to report suspected cases of human trafficking to a national toll-free hotline.  The government funded a national charitable organization to pursue leads about suspected child predators on the Internet.  The federal government provided a grant to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to combat trafficking of aboriginal women and children.  The Canadian immigration agency provided pamphlets and information to temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, to let them know where to seek assistance in case of exploitation or abuse, as well as to recipients of “exotic dancer” visas---which have been used to facilitate trafficking in the past---to inform them of their rights.  Last year Canadian officials issued 14 exotic dancer permits, down from 15 in 2007 and 22 in 2006.

Canada is a source country for child sex tourists, and the country prohibits its nationals from engaging in child sex tourism through Section 7(4.1) of its Criminal Code.  This law has extraterritorial application.  Since 1997, approximately 110 formal charges have been filed against Canadians suspected of sexually exploiting children in foreign countries.  Last year the Canadian government obtained the convictions of two offenders for sexually abusing young orphans in Haiti.  Canada’s Foreign Affairs distributes a publication entitled “Bon Voyage” to warn Canadians traveling abroad about penalties under Canada’s child sex tourism law.  The federal Interdepartmental Working Group on Trafficking in Persons is coordinating with British Columbia’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Vancouver Police, and the Vancouver Olympic Committee to incorporate anti-trafficking measures into the Olympics broader security plan.  The RCMP has six regional human trafficking awareness coordinators across the country responsible for maintain relationships with law enforcement and other partners.  The RCMP recently updated is outreach and awareness materials, and is providing a human trafficking tool-kit to law enforcement officers across the country.  Canada’s Department of National Defense follows NATO policy on combating trafficking in persons, and provides anti-trafficking information to Canadian military forces prior to their deployment on international peacekeeping missions.

Exploitation and Abuse of Children
There is an organization in the US that coordinates information from around the world about missing and exploited children called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  Situations can be reported through their website at www.missingkids.com.  Canada’s website is Cybertip.ca .

In 2003, Det. Sgt. Paul Gillespie of the Toronto Police Sex Crimes Unit became frustrated with the “going after the bad guys with aging weapons.”  The perpetrators had the best equipment while the police were using antiquated computers and slow working programs.  In angry at the end of his shift, he sent an email message to Bill Gates of Microsoft, saying, “Your technology helped created this mess; help us clean it up.”  He didn’t expect a reply but Gates took it seriously and sent it to the chairman of Microsoft Canada.  As a result, Microsoft began working with the Sex Crime Unit, committing millions of dollars to develop software called Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS).  They have continued to upgrade the software and it is now being used around the world to help rescue children being abused.

Human Trafficking in Ontario

• York Regional Police have charged two men with human trafficking
  • In January a Mississauga man was charged with forcing two young women into prostitution.
  • In February a Toronto man was charged with forcing a woman to perform sex acts and assist him in committing criminal offences.
• York Regional Police made their first human trafficking charge in October against a man who forced a 19 year old Alberta women to work as a stripper.

A new documentary entitled Avenue Zero by Montreal filmmaker Hélène Choquette sheds light on human trafficking in Canada.  For information about the film, go to www.avenuezero.ca.

International

Flight Attendants Identify Trafficking on International Flights
An American Airlines flight attendant has developed a brochure on human trafficking and is delivering presentations to other flight attendants around the world on how to identify and respond to human trafficking activities.  Flight attendants have an important role to play in identifying unusual or suspicious situations on international flights.  For example, flight attendants became suspicious of a potential situation of child trafficking when an 18 year old male, boarded a long-haul flight with a one day old baby, no wife, and only 2 diapers and a bottle in his pocket.  The goal is to provide a brochure on human trafficking in every airline seat back pocket for passengers to read.

Mexico First Country to Launch UN Blue Heart Campaign at National Level
Mexico has become the first nation in the world to launch the United Nations’ Blue Heart Campaign which aims to raise awareness, encourage involvement and inspire action to stop human trafficking, and give people the opportunity to show their solidarity with victims of trafficking by wearing a blue heart.

Stop the Traffik and Start Freedom – 2010
Stop the Traffik is a global youth campaign called Start Freedom, by celebrating Freedom Week in March where young people around the world showcased their activities against trafficking such as plays, photo exhibitions and debates.  The movement is also campaigning for traffic-free, fair-trade chocolate and hopes to pressure Nestle to use fair trade chocolate in one of their leading candy bars.  For more information go to www.stopthetraffic.org.

Child Trafficking in Haiti
Twenty organizations have partnered together to prevent human trafficking in Haiti in response to the country’s recent earthquake and concerns about a potential increase in child abductions and child trafficking.  Among the organizations are Global Centurion, Salvation Army, Doctors at War Against Trafficking Worldwide, Equitas Group, Beyond Borders, and Call and Response.  The aim is to deliver information on the dangers of human trafficking to Haitians via messages on water bottles, radio and television PSAs and a website.

Framework for Action to Implement the Trafficking in Persons Protocol
In January, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime launched the International Framework for Action to Implement the Trafficking in Persons Protocol in Vienna.  The framework is a technical assistance tool that aims to support UN Member States to effective implement the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.