Where will we be in 2030?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/04/2016 (3527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Welcome to friendly Manitoba, our lovely prairie province in the centre of Canada. We’re known for our open fields, our cold winters, and our love for Slurpees. Beneath the surface of this friendly, beautiful province, we have some issues that need to be not only recognized but soon dealt with. One of them is sex trafficking, and with it the underlying issues of poverty. By the year 2030, I would like to see our province known for having taken care of young women being exploited on the streets.

Human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, is often seen as something that happens in other countries and not something that could be a large problem in our society. Yet, in Canada, the average age of entry into the sex trade is 13 to 14. This age is even lower in the North End of Winnipeg.

When we talk about the missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada, we see many connections between these young girls and the sex trade. These problems won’t disappear overnight.

There are many organizations in our province that do a fantastic job at assisting people on the streets. They can help provide ways out of poverty and addiction, and some are involved with police to help rescue victims of sex trafficking. Yet, many of these organizations are only able to treat the symptoms of the problem, not the problem itself.

Unfortunately, we are not able to address this situation with one simple solution. Public education is important. People’s attitudes will have to be adjusted for things to actually change. It’s often an uncomfortable experience to discover children are being exploited in your province. It’s easy to donate $20 and then forget about the issue. We blame it on the victim and say it’s their choice.

Often, however, the women we see on street corners aren’t there by choice but are stuck in a cycle of poverty and can’t get out.

I believe that by focusing on the exploitation of girls in our province, we will create a better place to live. By supporting the people in our province, we build ourselves a better home.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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I don’t know what my life will look like in the year 2030. What I do know is I would be proud to live in a province that is known for taking care of people. I want to see a Manitoba where children aren’t involved in the sex trade. 

Rachel Junghans is a Grade 11 student at St. Norbert Collegiate