New study suggests growing concerns of young First Nations people becoming victims of human trafficking in southwestern Ontario
TRIGGER WARNING: the following content discusses human trafficking, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation that may be difficult for some readers. If you think you might be a victim of human trafficking or think someone else maybe, please call: 1-833-900-1010. Hotline Response Advocates are available 24/7/365 and support is available in over 200 languages. The hotline can connect callers to local service providers and/or emergency services in communities across Canada.
By Colin Graf
SARNIA— First Nations people are more and more frequently becoming victims of human trafficking (HT) in southwestern Ontario, according to a new study.
Representatives from every one of the 26 community service departments at three First Nations, Aamjiwnaang, Kettle & Stony Point, and Bkejwanong (Walpole Island), as well as the Sarnia-Lambton Native Friendship Centre (SLNFC), told researchers working on the project that HT, usually for sexual purposes, is a growing problem in the region and within their communities.
Social service providers in the communities say they have worked with possibly 112-140 survivors in a one-year period who have been trafficked either for sexual purposes or for forced labour, according to the report, primarily authored by Lambton College professor Ruth Geurts.
The number of girls and women seeking support after exiting or escaping sexual exploitation in the Sarnia area is growing, according to information provided to the investigators by Angie Marks, director of Sarnia’s Sexual Assault Survivors’ Centre (SASC).
The study, conducted as a partnership between Lambton College and the SASC from 2018-2020, is intended to assess and enhance the community’s understanding of the hidden nature of HT, described by one police officer to the researchers as “an invisible problem in our community… like chasing ghosts.”
Local police data for investigations and charges “do not reflect these high numbers” the authors write. Sarnia police and regional Ontario Provincial Police together charged five people in 2018 and two in 2019 for trafficking offences, according to information provided by police to the investigators. The low number of charges compared to the high number of people reporting being sexually exploited is a country-wide pattern and “poses a challenge to every community across Canada,” according to the report.
“Police report they are only scratching the surface, as victims are often too afraid to report HT and to testify against their trafficker. Unfortunately, the Canadian legal system is solely reliant on the victim’s testimony in order to prosecute the trafficker, especially when the victim often does not even see themselves as having been trafficked,” investigators relate.
Human trafficking is underreported in First Nation communities, which have police services that are “often understaffed, underfunded, under-resourced and have unsafe working conditions,” leading to “their inability to respond appropriately and investigate violence and exploitation,” according to the report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Sarnia-area report explains. The investigators were unable to collect data from the Walpole and Kettle & Stony Point police, while Aamjiwnaang is policed by the Sarnia force.
“Police need more time and energy to be able to dedicate additional surveillance to the problem as it is a disguised crime often linked with other criminal activities involving fraud, theft, identity theft, domestic violence, sexual assault, drugs and weapons,” in the report’s wording.
The research team interviewed 12 survivors of HT and learned “to be compassionate and understanding of the trauma survivors have endured” and how they hold shame and fear from the “violent threats victims have endured in order to stay alive in the dangerous world of trafficking.”
Fearing retribution from their trafficker, survivors are often too afraid to speak out. If they do reach out, it tends to be to get help with basic needs— food, shelter and clothing— and they may not have access to trauma or addictions counseling they need, the report says. Only two of the survivors interviewed went to police for help, while others were fearful to do so. However, other survivors told the researchers that taking part in the study has empowered them to share their stories publicly to help prevent or protect others from falling victim to sexual exploitation.
Research reviewed by the Sarnia-area study shows the majority of people trafficked in Canada are Indigenous women and children. The Indigenous population in Canada is 4 per cent, yet, Indigenous peoples are significantly over-represented in the sex trade industry and in being trafficked, the investigators state.
Their interviews with social service providers show the workers believe youth from 13-16 are the largest group at high risk of being recruited by traffickers. They believe traffickers attract victims by convincing them they are in a boyfriend-type of relationship with someone who cares for them, but then are convinced to provide sex in return for gifts, offers of employment, or help with basic needs such as shelter, transportation, and food. Later, they may use various techniques to control the victim such as isolation from family and friends, not being allowed out publicly without the trafficker in their presence, lying, manipulating, abuse in all forms, threats of violence to the victim and their family or pets, and controlling the use of the victims’ ID, money and phone.
Many, 67 per cent, did not know they were being trafficked at the time, adding to their vulnerability and dependency on the trafficker. All of the survivors stated they lived in fear most of the time
They believe traffickers recruit young women at social gatherings that can include powwows, sporting events, concerts, and parties. Recruitment can take place in bars, schools, malls, through friends, and through social media. Websites, social media, and gaming sites such as Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox are routes traffickers also take to find targets, in the opinions of service providers in the three communities.
While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have reduced in-person recruitment by traffickers, there is clear evidence that sexual exploitation over the internet is taking off rapidly, according to information from the Sarnia report. During the pandemic, many victims are being re-routed to be trafficked online using social media and camming sites, according to Oakville HT survivor and victim advocate Michelle Furgieule, interviewed for the Sarnia-area study.
As the sex trade industry evolves and moves online, so do the tactics of traffickers and pimps, says Furgieule, who survived 10 years of being trafficked and now works with police services and presents in schools on the subject. Globally, young women and men are “being forced into performing in live streaming video chat rooms without their consent and often after experiencing abuse,” she says. Sex camming is becoming more and more mainstream, according to Furgieule, and sites such as Snapchat and OnlyFans offer traffickers new platforms to produce more money from victims using e-transfer, Paypal, automatic payment, and credit cards.
There is no way to track where individuals are camming from or what age the victims may be, and too often, underage victims are being exploited.
“Johns (consumers) need to be told the nitty-gritty of what is happening behind the scenes,” she comments, and the consumer’s credit card information could easily be associated with underage victims.
Virtual learning resulting from pandemic-caused school closures has made children and youth even more vulnerable to online trafficking due to the increased number of hours they are spending in front of screens, according to the report. Many social service agencies and shelters have been closed to the public during the pandemic, making it increasingly more difficult for victims of HT to reach out and escape their trafficker.
Guerts notes that individual reports on human trafficking in the three First Nations were provided to leadership in Aaamjiwnaang, Kettle & Stony Point, and Walpole last October. The report recommends a range of measures for First Nations to combat HT. They include life skills training, financial support, and transitional housing for survivors, education and awareness training for community and family members, engaging youth in open discussions to help prevent vulnerable populations from being lured into HT, and improving addiction services.