Province launching new anti-sex-trafficking strategy
Published March 6, 2020 at 7:41 pm
The Province has announced they are taking concrete steps to combat and prevent human trafficking.
According to a news release, the Province is implementing a five-year strategy to prevent human trafficking.
The new strategy is the largest total investment in dedicated anti-human trafficking supports and services in the country.
According to the release, 66 per cent of all cases of human trafficking in Canada occur in Ontario.
Additionally, the average age people are recruited into the dark world of sex trafficking is 13, and over 70 per cent of victims identified by police are under the age of 25.
Young women and girls are particularly at risk of especially those from Indigenous communities and children and youth in care, though boys, men, and those a part of the LGBTQ+ community are also targetted.
Videos
As a result of how commonly Indigenous women and girls are targetted by sex traffickers, Indigenous-specific initiatives are a large part of the new strategy.
The strategy, which will benefit from an investment of $307 million, will focus on four key areas:
- Raising awareness of the issue by launching a new, province-wide marketing campaign to educate children, youth, parents, and the broader public about what human trafficking is, how to recognize the signs, and where to get help.
- Holding offenders accountable by giving law enforcement more specialized Crown prosecution support for human trafficking cases, strengthening intelligence gathering in the correctional system, and investing in police services to help coordinate anti-human trafficking investigations and expand the Ontario Provincial Police Child Sexual Exploitation Unit.
- Protecting victims and intervening early by investing in specialized intervention teams involving police and child protection services, incorporating human trafficking awareness into the education curriculum, and establishing dedicated, licensed residences to support victims, including those under the age of 16.
- Supporting survivors by investing new funding in wrap-around, community-based supports and Indigenous-led initiatives to make more services available for survivors and by enhancing victim services to assist survivors throughout the court process.
“Survivors of human trafficking require specific, ongoing supports to help them exit trafficking, heal from their trauma and rebuild their lives,” Jill Dunlop, Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues, said in a news release.
“Our new strategy doubles the investment in community-based services for survivors, while also providing a range of new supports focused on children and youth, which has been a critical gap until now. It provides increased supports for Indigenous communities and takes a cross-government approach to reinforce Ontario as a leader in combatting human trafficking,” she continued.
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising