How to Prevent Human Trafficing

Human Trafficking, what is it, how do you detect it, resources out there, report it and even better, how to prevent it. 

I hope you are well? I’d like to introduce you to a friend and colleague of mine, Kelly Schuler. Kelly Schuler is the Executive Director at BRAVE Education. BRAVE Education is a non-profit organisation based here in Calgary. At the heart of what BRAVE Education does is Anti-Trafficking Education for Children and Youth in Canada and their communities of support. They recently obtained a $2.75m grant (that requires matched funding) to expand their work on Human Trafficking Prevention Education in Canada. 

This project is the largest project funded by Mitacs to date in the area of social innovation. Using a trauma-informed and social justice approach, this project will examine all existing human trafficking prevention education for young people in Canada to determine what is effective, where there are gaps and will make recommendations on best practices re: developing and implementing human trafficking prevention education for young people in Canada.

Human Trafficking is one of Canada’s best kept secrets with many people thinking that it does not happen in Canada. As such, BRAVE Education is raising awareness on the dangers of trafficking and how it manifests in Canada. Kelly as the ED of Brave would like to deliver a presentation to our club on the great work that they are doing on human trafficking prevention and provide some insights on how the club members can spot if someone is being trafficked and what they can do about it.

Some useful information about BRAVE Education and Human Trafficking in Canada:

Who is BRAVE education and what do they do?

BRAVE Education is founded on the three pillars of research, education and collaboration. The BRAVE Vision is to ensure every child in Canada has access to prevention education, prior to the average age of recruitment, which is age 12-14. The BRAVE Team, comprised of 20 members throughout Canada, is committed to collaborating with community organizations, youth serving leaders and policy-influencers with a vision to ensure every child in Canada has access to age-appropriate and culturally relevant human trafficking prevention education. The embodiment of BRAVE’s approach is ‘nothing about us without us’ and is foundational to BRAVE’s success in serving communities to help protect children.

What is human trafficking?

According to Statistics Canada, human trafficking is a complex crime that is often difficult to detect and prosecute, many cases go undetected and unreported. It involves the recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing, or harbouring of a person—or the exercise of control, direction or influence over the movements of a person—in order to exploit or facilitate the exploitation of that person (Public Safety Canada, 2022a; Public Safety Canada, 2022b; UNODC, 2021). Whether it is sexual exploitation, forced labour or another type of exploitation, victims of this type of crime often come from vulnerable groups in society (Casassa et al., 2021; CCTEHT, 2021b; Public Safety Canada, 2022a; Public Safety Canada, 2022b).

Interesting facts to consider about human trafficking in Canada : 

• Online exploitation of children is a growing problem in Canada. There has been an 88% increase since 2020 according to Public Safety Canada.
• Child sex trafficking, is a fastest growing crime in Canada
• Of the 2,688 detected victims of human trafficking between 2011 and 2021, the vast majority (96%) of reported cases were women and girls. This doesn’t mean boys are not trafficked, it means they are seldom reported.
• There were 3,541 police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada between 2011 and 2021, including offences under the Criminal Code and those related to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
• Nine in ten victims are trafficked by someone they know, most often an intimate partner
• More than six in ten accused persons are men aged 18 to 34, girls outnumber boys among youth accused and often serve as recruiters
• Nine in ten victims trafficked by someone they know, most often an intimate partner
• Women and girls account for the majority of detected victims of human trafficking.