Karly Church is hoping her emotional speech will be an eye opener for North Bay teens.
Church, was a victim of human trafficking about 10 years ago.
Church was joined by Jasmine De Fina as the two human trafficking survivors spoke to students at Chippewa Secondary School during the eye-opening presentation.
"I feel everything happens for a reason and this is my purpose, and hopefully share some really important information and knowledge with our young people in the hopes that it helps one person never have to go through what I went through or help somebody else never have to experience that loneliness, or that feeling that they cannot ask for help," Church said.
"I would not be able to do this if I did not go through what I went through."
Church says human trafficking is done in a much more subtle way compared to what many people perceive thanks to human trafficking in movies such as Taken.
She emphasizes the importance of education on human trafficking to help identify red flags and prevent victimization.
"The fact that it does happen in a way that is not so apparent to the public is where the power comes from for human trafficking," said Church. "If the general public isn't able to identify it, if people that it's happening to aren't able to identify it, then that power is taken by those traffickers."
De Fina says online is where they are seeing the majority of the luring and grooming for trafficking happening and it has gotten worse since the pandemic.
"I think especially with the pandemic and all the kids being moved online for education and their socialization. It's really important that we're educating kids to be careful and to be safe online," noted De Fina.
"We see traffickers sliding in DM's like their direct messages and friend requesting, creating fake profiles, using their pictures to put them for sale online. And so it's really important that kids are learning not to post certain things, and not to share all their information and who to talk to and who not to talk to."
Not just a big city problem
Church says human trafficking is not just a big city problem. He says Ontario is a hot spot in Canada for human trafficking.
"So this is happening in every single community across our country. Ontario is actually a hub," she said.
"Two-thirds of all trafficking that occurs in Canada happens here in Ontario. So if you think of that, you know that this is affecting and impacting our young people across this province and in every jurisdiction. I'm from Northern Ontario. I grew up in a community that has a population of 1500 people, and was still a victim of human trafficking."
Human Trafficking in North Bay
Constable Russ Moyer, the community engagement and crime reduction officer for North Bay police, calls North Bay a "honey hole" for human trafficking due to its proximity to both Ottawa and Toronto.
"We do have a significant vulnerable population in North Bay, that can be targeted by people who are looking to take advantage of people," said Moyer. "So like I said, it's just about educating them so that they can protect themselves and get ahead of it to make sure they don't fall victim."
The North Bay Police say they investigated 13 human trafficking cases in 2022. That grew to 23 investigations for human trafficking in 2023.
This year, North Bay Police have laid 10 human trafficking charges so far in 2024.
