Human trafficking is big business in North Bay and today the spotlight is on raising awareness of the problem.
“Victim Services of Nipissing District (VSND) continues to see an increase in human trafficking cases in the region," Kathleen Jodouin, executive director of Victim Services Nipissing District tells BayToday. "VSND works with community partners such as Amelia Rising to support survivors and provide education. Human trafficking cases in the area have involved survivors of varying age groups and genders, who are local or international and have been exploited in the sex trade or as labourers."
Last week the Nipissing Human Trafficking Knowledge Network, VSND and Amelia Rising hosted a symposium with expert speakers. The event was attended by 90 professionals.
Sergeant Brad Reaume of the North Bay Police Service has been a member of the Community Drug Strategy program for 11 years. He told BayToday in an interview last year that, "Quite likely we have dozens of occurrences that are happening daily within our community,"
"Anybody can go online on the internet and look at the websites that are available and involved with human trafficking and there are dozens of advertisements in North Bay, every day."
Matti Primeau is a detective constable with the Anishinabek Police Service. She is also a human trafficking investigator. Primeau says the most vulnerable are the biggest target.
"We have a lot of youth from 13 years old and maybe even younger," she said. "They are a higher target and more likely to be trafficked into the sex trade as well as our indigenous women."
See: Investigators say human trafficking is rampant in the region
MPP Vic Fedeli announced today that $128,000 will go to Victim Services of Nipissing District to combat the problem.
“Community organizations do a great deal of work helping young victims of crime when and where they need it most.”
“Human trafficking is a grave violation of human rights and a heinous crime that deprives individuals of their freedom and dignity.," said Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Michael Parsa in a news release. "It often targets the most vulnerable, with women, children, and youth among those at highest risk. Collectively, we must continue to take action and work together to raise awareness so that we can better protect people at risk and help survivors get the support they need to heal."
A five-year Anti–Human Trafficking Strategy is in place to raise awareness, protect victims, intervene early, support survivors, and hold offenders accountable.
This includes:
- Mandating all school boards to have an anti-sex trafficking protocol to protect students
- Requiring all educators and staff to attend training to recognize, respond to, and prevent the sex trafficking of children and youth
- Raising awareness on transit vehicles and along major transportation corridors
- Continuing to work with trucking industry partners, and agencies like Metrolinx and Ontario Northland to raise awareness of the signs of trafficking
- Providing community safety grants that support our policing, community, and Indigenous partners to work collaboratively to help prevent human trafficking and support survivors.
Children at Risk of Exploitation (CARE) units have been established which bring together specialized teams of child protection workers, police, and Indigenous liaisons to better protect children and youth who have experienced trafficking or are at high risk of being trafficked.
For more information, visit ontario.ca/HumanTrafficking. If there is immediate danger or you suspect someone is being trafficked, call 911 or your local police service.
Call the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010 if you or someone you know needs support, or to report a potential case.
