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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Manitoba chiefs get $100K to fight human trafficking

By: Mia Rabson

Posted: 04/8/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

OTTAWA -- The federal government is putting money on the table to help keep vulnerable young aboriginal women from falling victim to human trafficking.

The $100,000 contribution to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs will be used to develop education and awareness programs for Manitoba First Nations communities.

It is the first time Ottawa has spent anything to combat human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada that many believe is behind the significant number of missing aboriginal women in this country.

Since 2000, 49 aboriginal women have disappeared without a trace, according to a research project by the Native Women's Association of Canada. Most of them are under the age of 30. In Manitoba, 69 aboriginal women have gone missing or have been murdered since 1980, according to the report.

A 2007 article on domestic trafficking in Canada found evidence young aboriginal girls were being recruited or sold into the sex trade by family members, gangs or even other young girls, who were themselves the victims of trafficking. The high prevalence of poverty, violence, substance abuse and family breakdown in aboriginal families make many young aboriginal girls most vulnerable.

Once lured in, the girls are moved around in a sophisticated circuit between major cities in Canada and, it's believed, likely internationally as well.

Because most people assume a sex-trade worker chose that life, society doesn't easily recognize them as sex slaves who are unable to escape, reports suggest.

But Manitoba Conservative MP Joy Smith said people need to take off their blinders.

"This is happening on reserves," said Smith, who made combating human trafficking her main mission as a politician after being exposed to the issue by her son, a police officer.

AMC Grand Chief Ron Evans said he first learned about the emerging issue last fall at a conference in Winnipeg and was shocked to find out how much it is likely affecting Manitoba aboriginal communities. "We need to get the warnings out so people know what to look for," Evans said.

The issue of human trafficking, often referred to as the modern-day slave trade, is relatively new in Canada and police forces and governments are still putting together the resources to address it. The U.S. State Department has identified Canada as a source and destination country for human traffickers.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 8, 2009 B3

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