Ignorance May Be Bliss, But for Who? On the Misconceptions of Human Trafficking in Canada.
Rory Sullivan
November 24 2019
In Canada, many of us live in a bubble when it comes to our perception of crime. This is not helped by the fact that often, the media distorts our view of the subject. This can lead to ignorance about crimes that we too often overlook. So, what is a type of crime in Canada that we are mostly unaware of? Human trafficking. Worldwide, approximately 40 million people are currently victims of human trafficking, 75% of whom are women (Polaris, 2019). Canadians, myself included, tend to think of human trafficking as only a global issue that occurs in places far away from us, but that’s not the case. Human trafficking is not as we perceive it when we watch action packed films that overdramatize and perpetrate harmful myths.
The film Taken is an example of this. It showed human trafficking as a young American girl who travels abroad and is targeted for sex trafficking, but this is rarely the case for real victims of this horrible crime and it leads to people ignoring the different victims and types of human trafficking that exist. According to Heidi Illingworth, current Federal Ombudsman to Victims of Crime, between 2009 and 2014, there were 396 victims of police-reported human trafficking in Canada. Out of the near 400 victims, 93% of them identified as women, and a significant number were under the age of 18. While this statistic seems to confirm the earlier mentioned stereotype perpetuated by blockbusters such as Taken, the reality is that there are many different types of human trafficking other than sexual exploitation, and unlike the film portrays, these young girls are often targeted and groomed by people they know or figures of authority, not captured by a random international trafficking rings while traveling abroad. A myth such as this one takes away from the real victims who are being trafficked in our own country, as well as those who are trafficked for other reasons, such as labour.
In an interview with Tara Leach, co-founder and clinical director of the first trauma-informed health clinic in Canada, called H.E.A.L.T.H (which stands for Healthcare, Education, Advocacy, Linkage, Trauma Informed, Healing), spoke about how even government officials were slow to accept the realities of human trafficking. Leach stated that there is no ‘paragraph definition’ of human trafficking. There are different categories of human trafficking, different targets, and it can happen both internationally and right in our own country. The problem with uncovering the truth about human trafficking in Canada is that many don’t want to think about the horrors occurring around them. There is no doubt that it is a sensitive topic to approach, but it is necessary, nonetheless.
When describing the most important needs of victims of human trafficking, Leach said that healthcare is one of the most important but overlooked aspects. Those who have been long-term victims have a higher risk of chronic health issues. As other sexual health clinics are emergency only, they can only help with short-term medical issues, and don’t address the chronic physical and mental health issues that are common with long-term victims. Additionally, H.E.A.L.T.H provides completely anonymous health care because many victims are afraid to come forward in fear of retaliation or punishment. She emphasized the absolute necessity for accessible resources and health care for victims, whether they still be under the control of their pimp or not, because victims not seeking medical aid out of fear for their lives, especially in a pimp situation, is a major concern.
Changing the script on human trafficking and the perceived needs of victims is essential in order to begin providing help for victims and to tear down our ignorance on the issue. While misconceptions may seem harmless, in reality they prevent the spread of awareness about the issue and stop more people from getting involved in advocating for change or from donating to organizations that help victims. If no one knows about the reality of human trafficking, then they will also not know how to help. Leach cites that one of the most effective ways of aiding victims is educating health care providers on issues concerning sexual assault and human trafficking which breaks down stereotypes about the topic. During the interview, Leach spoke about incidents she has had with co-workers in which they would display prejudices about human trafficking victims and their needs. By opening the minds of medical providers to the truths about human trafficking in Canada and providing appropriate and anonymous resources for victims no matter their current status, we are taking a step in the right direction.
There is another crucial aspect of human trafficking in Canada that must be addressed: its impact on Indigenous women and girls. The 2019 final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls brought broader public attention to the continuing violence that Indigenous women and girls face under colonialism and patriarchy. Despite that public attention, many Canadians remain unaware of how human trafficking harms Indigenous women and girls. A report done by the Canadian Women’s Foundation in 2014 found that approximately half of trafficking victims in Canada identified as Indigenous. According to a report by the Ontario Native Women’s Association, many Indigenous women are targeted at a higher rate for human trafficking because:
“The entire colonial history of Indigenous people in Canada has created an environment that is based on inequity wherein Indigenous people are at a socioeconomic disadvantage which results in poverty, low educational status, addictions, ill health, sexual exploitation, abuse and violence. Through examining the alarming statistics which demonstrate the disparities in Indigenous women’s lives, it becomes clear that Indigenous women are at an extreme disadvantage, and experience increased likelihood to be trafficked. The over-representation of Indigenous children and youth in Child Protection services, going back to the ‘Sixties Scoop’ in which massive numbers of Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in non-Indigenous families, coalesces with ongoing poverty and socioeconomic challenges in Indigenous communities.”
Illingworth’s office, which provides a voice for victims and acts as a special advisor to the Minister of Justice by giving recommendations, has made it a part of their mandate to focus on Gender Based Violence. In 2019, Illingworth released a response to the 231 ‘Calls to Action’ that the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as five of the Calls to Action were related to human trafficking. She states the importance of being allies and making it a priority to implement the recommendations made in the report in order to aid the Indigenous women who have been unfairly targeted for far too long.
In Canada, human trafficking has been kept fairly under wraps, which only furthered the harmful misconception that it was purely an international issue. While human trafficking was made a federal crime in 2005, Canada did not adopt the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking until 2012. Furthermore, the resources available in each province differ greatly, with Manitoba and British Columbia having the most comprehensive strategies when tackling human trafficking. On the other hand, Ontario, despite its accounting for approximately 65% of human trafficking cases in the country, only introduced their Strategy to End Human Trafficking in 2016. Implementing further legislation, educating medical providers and law enforcement, tearing down stereotypes that too many Canadians take as the truth, and taking the added risk Indigenous women experience seriously is only the start.
Ignorance may be bliss for the majority of the Canadian public which see their country as a place free of the atrocious crime of human trafficking, but those who continue to be overlooked due to the lack of awareness do not share the sentiment. At the 2018 National Summit on Human Trafficking in Toronto, participants (which included law enforcement and service providers) identified the lack of public awareness to be the third biggest challenge facing human trafficking in Canada today. If human trafficking remains a topic that we as a society are ignorant to, the issue will never get better. The misconceptions we blind ourselves with, including viewing it as just an international concern, not considering the needs of all victims, and believing that there is only one definition of human trafficking, are harming those we need to help. If we don’t take a stand now, it will only get worse.