Foundation launches campaign alerting public to human-trafficking signs

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This article was published 22/02/2023 (930 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New clothes, jewelry and other unaffordable gifts. Two cell phones. New friends, frequent sleepovers, unexplained injuries. A sudden change in attitude about school and other activities. Falling grades.

The signs are often there, but many parents don’t know what they’re looking at.

That’s where a national organization founded by former Manitoba MP and MLA Joy Smith enters the disturbing picture with an awareness campaign to alert parents and others to the signs of human trafficking.

Smith, and the foundation she created in 2011, launched the effort Wednesday with the Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba RCMP to educate the public on the signs of potential grooming and luring for sex trafficking.

The campaign includes posters, billboards and videos, as well as programming for schools.

“It’s happening all over, there’s not enough police officers, there’s not enough social workers… you and I need to become aware of what’s happening so we can talk to our kids,” said Smith, who was a schoolteacher before winning a seat in the legislature in 1999, adding people who have been exploited are particularly vulnerable.

Sgt. Andrea Scott, who heads the WPS counter exploitation unit, said officers regularly investigate allegations of human trafficking.

“From what we know, traffickers control through various means. (It’s) as simple as basic human needs, controlling people’s movements, controlling their housing, their food, shelter, clothing… but they also look for individuals who have vulnerabilities — addictions,” said Scott.

“Once they have that control, it’s very hard to give that up.”

She said often survivors of exploitation don’t want to speak with police. Law enforcement personnel regularly get tips from service providers or family members rather than victims themselves, she said.

“I think the biggest thing that WPS does really well… is that we meet with those survivors on their terms. We will come to their home, we will come to somewhere…. They feel safe,” she said.

RCMP Sgt. Tara Clelland said that sexual exploitation also occurs in rural and northern areas, not just large cities.

“Many of us would like to think that this would never happen to us, or our child, or to someone we love. But it absolutely can,” said Clelland.

“The children and young people that are being trafficked and targeted come from all backgrounds and every part of society.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera