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Victims of Trafficking in Persons: Perspectives from the Canadian Community Sector
3. Findings
3. Findings
- (1) the characteristics of trafficking in persons as encountered by the community groups and
- (2) the services available or necessary for victims of trafficking in Canada and the existing gaps and systemic barriers.
3.1 Characteristics of Trafficking in Persons
3.1.1 Defining Trafficking
Respondents were asked to define trafficking in persons in order to verify their understanding of what constitutes trafficking and to establish a common framework. It was confirmed that most groups working on the issue are aware of the UN definition; some interpret this definition broadly, while others question its applicability to individual situations. Although sometimes dependent upon their work, the working definitions of trafficking used by the respondents varied but were consistent in one or more aspects with the UN Protocol on Trafficking. The respondents established trafficking as an interrelation between displacement, control and exploitation.
- recruitment,
- transit
- and destination.
So, there are many things: there are migratory conditions, the condition in which the person was in their country of origin, conditions during transportation, living and work conditions at the point of arrival. All of this can be different. In other words, a person can be a sex worker in Romania, have a migratory trajectory where, during the transportation to Canada, may or may not have been fooled, may or may not have traveled in horrible conditions, and may or may not work in the sex industry after arriving in Canada. [1]
Workers involved mostly with the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP)[2] noted that while there may be forced labour and slavery-type practices in the destination country, exploitation in recruitment and transportation may be difficult to identify in some situations. It was also reported that gender was key to understanding trafficking and that even in cases of forced labour, an element of sexual exploitation may also be present.
- refugee claims,
- street outreach,
- health education
- and especially on broad issues relating to violence against women.
All respondents recognized the fact that international migration and displacement were inherent elements in the definition of trafficking in persons. Being far from home, without their familiar social system and their potential social supports, was seen as an important factor in individuals’ vulnerability to coercion and exploitation. At the outset, trafficking that occurs within Canadian borders was not considered as an issue, unless respondents were directly involved with this population. Groups in Vancouver and, in particular, Winnipeg, were most aware of the internal trafficking issue, especially among Aboriginal women and girls.
The degree to which displacement is the result of coercion was questioned by some respondents. They asserted that many of those who eventually become victims of trafficking were indeed seeking to migrate but inadvertently found themselves in an exploitative situation outside of their control.
Exploitation is considered to be a key factor in defining trafficking by the majority of respondents. In the case of international trafficking, many respondents mentioned that even though legal immigration visas may be used to enter the country, such as is the case with the Live-In Caregiver and other temporary work visas, exploitation may still occur. In cases of internal trafficking, displacement was described as being forced by either traffickers or by the potential victim’s life situation:
Of course, we meet a lot of Aboriginal women, Inuit, in our work. Are they victims of trafficking because they want to come to Montreal? Do they run away from the reserves because the living conditions are disgusting? Because they suffer all kinds of violence, abuses of all sorts? They take a chance and come to Montreal, and once there, things don’t go so well.[3]
Some respondents stated that traffickers use physical, psychological and economic control over their victims. Forms of physical coercion mentioned by respondents ranged from outright kidnapping (almost exclusively in the case of minors), physical violence and threats of physical violence against the victim and their families. Psychological coercion included encouraging a false sense of "love" from their victims, using deception and deceit, and undermining the victim’s autonomy:
Issues of abuse and power are not easy to deal with. The dynamics are complicated. People might be suffering from the Stockholm syndrome.[4] These are complicated dynamics since there is the need to be socially recognized and loved. People who encourage exploitation are generally fairly knowledgeable and skilled in using the weaknesses of people who are emotionally fragile…or who could be made so. The victims are isolated and misinformed individuals.[5]
Economically, traffickers often saddle their victims with huge debts leading to dire consequences in cases of non-payment[6] and/or make promises of future prosperity. For international victims, threats of being exposed to immigration authorities are another form of control. With regard to the issue of internal trafficking, exploitation of pre-existing addictions or the encouragement of new ones is an important element. As well, many traffickers use the threat of criminal sanctions as a way of maintaining control over their victims. For example, the victims would be told that they will be put in jail if they are discovered by police.
Respondents grappled with the difficulty of determining where the line between trafficking and other forms of abuse or exploitation is drawn, such as in cases of forced labour and sweat shops. For many respondents, especially those from women’s organisations and those working with internal trafficking victims, the principal form of exploitation in trafficking situations is in the sex trade. While some respondents made a direct link between exploitation in the sex trade and trafficking, however, others stressed that working in the sex trade in itself was not necessarily an abusive situation. For those working with immigrant and refugees, the perspective of exploitation is broader and includes domestic work, child or elder care, forced marriage, forced labour or exploitative employment in family businesses, restaurants, agriculture and light industry.
3.1.2 Victims of Trafficking Encountered by Respondents
- what makes them vulnerable to trafficking,
- their recruitment,
- transit and exploitation at the destination point,
- and the longer-term outcomes for the victims.
Overall, most victims of trafficking met by the respondents were women and young girls and their age and ethnic background were varied.
Victims of international trafficking come from a diverse set of countries. Asian and Eastern European nationalities[8] were the most common among those encountered, but victims also arrive from the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, or the Caribbean.[9] In Vancouver, Asian victims were most often mentioned, especially those from China and the Philippines. In Toronto, East European and Latin American source countries were the most common. Montreal seemed very diverse in terms of origins, while the Winnipeg groups worked more on internal trafficking with Aboriginal women.
In the case of internal trafficking, northern Aboriginal reserves in British Columbia, the Prairies, and Québec were the most often cited origin of victims, but it was noted that youth runaways or otherwise isolated poor women from anywhere in Canada were vulnerable to trafficking. As one respondent noted,
Even boys and girls who leave their home in Canada. … they drop out of school and they end up in the big cities of Canada itself. In this case, even in Canada these people are being targeted because there are predators who just watch this kind of people who are in need like juveniles and immigrants.
According to respondents’ experiences, a majority of trafficking victims originating within Canada are Aboriginal, with young Aboriginal women figuring prominently. Very few respondents spoke of immigrants being trafficked once in Canada, although it was mentioned that there is movement from Vancouver to the interior, or to the north of British Columbia (BC) for the purposes of forced marriage and the sex trade and for agricultural work.
In Winnipeg, respondents from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations reported that trafficked persons were usually both status[10] and non-status Aboriginals, coming from rural and urban communities, some of them having lived in Winnipeg all their lives. Respondents emphasized that victims of trafficking met by Winnipeg agencies had migrated from the reserves to the city and were female or transgendered living as women. It is both the migratory trajectory and the sexual exploitation that defines them as victims of trafficking.
In general, few data are gathered formally and the demographics of the population served by each agency are somewhat different. For example, agencies working with LCP focus on women coming from the Philippines, ethnic associations work mostly with members of their own ethnic group and ad hoc groups can form around issues such as the arrival of the "Chinese boat people"[11]. For this reason, the national origins mentioned above do not necessarily reflect the true frequencies of their presence in a given city.
Regarding age and sex, most victims encountered by respondents were women between their early 20s and late 40s. However, some victims are reportedly under 18, with some as young as 7 in cases involving Aboriginal youth with drug addiction. Respondents from Prairies and Ontario also reported children being trafficked for sexual exploitation or adoption. Teenage girls may be falsifying their ages in order to receive temporary work visas. In the specific case of the Bountiful community in BC[12], respondents believe that girls are trafficked from the United States and from within Canada and their ages appear to be between 13 and 24. There are few data on the involvement of males, which, according to some respondents, may be primarily linked to homosexual prostitution.
Gender, poverty, social crisis, education, age, social isolation and drug or alcohol addiction were all cited by respondents as important factors in creating vulnerability to trafficking. Poverty was often linked to global economic inequality, and social isolation attributed to conditions such as troubled family life, history of sexual abuse and mental health problems. It was stressed that drug use cannot be underestimated. The particular situation of Canada’s Aboriginal communities was singled out by those working on domestic trafficking. It was understood that a history of colonial exploitation and racism has placed them in danger of marginalization.
In the case of international trafficking, poverty was cited by nearly all respondents as the most important source of vulnerability to trafficking. Poverty and lack of opportunity disproportionately impact women in their countries of origin, pushing them to look for opportunities elsewhere. Respondents from all cities noted that these socio-structural factors created favourable conditions for trafficking in developing countries
Really, poverty, you know? I mean, what else? Well, maybe a false sense of adventure. Still, again, it’s poverty. Really, it’s poverty. Most of the women we’ve met, really there’s no other thing that they say about why they’re doing what they’re doing now or how they got to where they are. It’s because they needed to. They wanted to help their families, most of the time. Especially if you’re talking to women from Asia. I find that that is sort of a recurring motive. "Help my family, earn for my family, etc, etc."
Respondents indicated that the ability to obtain a visa to come to Canada as an exotic dancer or through the LCP was extremely attractive in this kind of context, which in turn encourages trafficking by leaving many individuals, who have few other options, susceptible to deception and exploitation. These programs open a possibility for traffickers to entice many vulnerable women into a situation in which they may become potential victims of trafficking.
Similarly, interviewees noted that internally trafficked persons were susceptible to trafficking as a result of economic deprivation and lack of opportunities in their communities. Sometimes they were seduced by media portrayals or anecdotal descriptions of city life. The pull to urban areas is strong for Aboriginal youth living in communities adjacent to cities as well as for youth in northern communities.
Individuals may also be pushed to move in search of education or employment. In cases of internal trafficking, many youth from remote areas first come to urban areas because they may not have access or only limited access to education in their own community. Once they have arrived, their lack of employment-related skills and lack of experience living in an urban setting increase their vulnerability to trafficking.
