Gifting of Hope

Now you must sit

No one's judging you

You get a pass on this

Now look ahead

Into the future

And see you

Smile

See you shine

You're safe

Yes, you're safe again…

Lyrics to Lost~ Chantal Kreviazuk

Standing at a streetlight, there are two women. One is a professional, career driven, lady— rushed for her morning conference — her biggest concern is finding the time to purchase her soya latte.

The other woman is a modern day slave, bound in invisible shackles; she has already taken care of business with several men. Her concerns are the diseases she may be afflicted with and how she can survive another brutal 24 hours in the world of human trafficking.

This setting is not in some distant country, this appalling scene is unfolding right here within Victoria, on an average day. 

After being immersed in a two day workshop to stop human and labour trafficking, hosted by the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, I discovered our country is being impacted in ways that are inexcusable!

Here is the ICA link: http://www.icavictoria.org/

As I type this, the shocking data on the exploitation of people, has been stamped upon me. I was stunned to read 93% of Canadian trafficking victims are from our own nation and not other countries. Furthermore, not until 2005 was human trafficking considered a criminal offense.

When I attended the Stop Human Trafficking workshop, I was introduced to a series of presenters. Over the course of two days, each one peeled back the layers of atrocities, all unfolding under our Canadian flag.

Through Saanich Baptist Church and prior to attending the workshop, I had received knowledgeable information on human trafficking, by means of International Justice Mission. IJM is an international, non-governmental, non-profit association that is currently the world’s largest anti-slavery organization. IJM’s fight is against violence of many kinds, including child sexual assault, forced labour slavery and police abuse of power. I listened attentively, when Philip A. Reilly, IJM Director of Development and Mobilization, spoke candidly over the deluge of human trafficking carrying on within our own province. https://www.ijm.org/

This Christmas Eve, Saanich Baptist Church, will have Missions Ministry Director Rick Boomer, share about his recent trip to Bolivia. The Story of Maria will be shared. While writing this post, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Jeremy Vargas, whose family originates from Bolivia. The support of both of these individuals means a great deal to me, as they have insight and understanding to the countries exploitation.

Selling people for profit has seen the cause and effect of those who commit these crimes and the victims who are forced to carry out vile acts. Through evidence and research, those who groom others for sexual trafficking have been abused themselves in some form; adding to the cycle of people who were hurt… are now hurting others. 

In the advance of technology, cell phones have become weapons of destruction in many forms. A young man gains the trust of a girl, then over time through grooming techniques, he persuades her to take nude pictures to send to his phone. Shortly after, he convinces the young girl to allow him to film them engaged in sexual activity. Now a sex video tape exists. Once ensnared, the images are used to blackmail her, as threats are made to expose the tape to her family and friends, unless she does what he says. 

What started out as true love to the victim, becomes a descent into the world of human trafficking.

The public scrutiny of those who are victims of exploitation, makes it difficult for those to come forward to speak of the hell, they have suffered. With the promise of not disclosing the identity of those trafficked, it is a key factor in shielding those, from further harm. 

The U.N. Protocol, whose framework is based on prevention, protection, partnership and prosecution, has been signed by 117 countries.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspx

The lures of human trafficking offers promises of jobs, presents and a sense of belonging to entice a person, who is then exploited.

Those being trafficked like cattle are also branded with specific gang related tattoos; they bear injuries indicative of torture and scars inflicted from the bondage imposed upon them.

Other factors are not as obvious, such as woman or children who have been sexually abused or those who have an underlying sexual addiction. Mental health illnesses such as Bipolar, Schizophrenia, and other related diseases —can result in an already vulnerable person— being demoralized further. Young girls and boys who self-harm or who have low-self esteem are targeted; for they are easy prey to those who are trained to groom their victims. Being divergent in the sex trade, brings a higher demand and increased money for the traffickers, due to those seeking something considered taboo.  

The correlation between pornography and those who pay to exploit a human being, in exchange for money, is directly linked. Sex traffickers operate a wide ring of private and public businesses such as strip clubs, massage parlours and even spas. The annual, average profit, which is illegally earned by organized crime networks from one trafficked female being sexually exploited, is $280,000. 

Here are two informative Video links: 

#Refusetoclick   https://youtu.be/flh8gnC6J1s

She Has a Name: https://youtu.be/PcBBHGTKkdQ

Those who purchase young girls, boys and women for trafficking purposes are men from all sectors of society. Men can either be rich or middle class, locals or tourists, married, single or have children of their own. In a New York Times article, those men who solicit minors stated they have sex with trafficked children, instead of abusing their own, young children.

The similar side of trafficking is the labour exploitation of individuals, for the sole purpose of free labour. Woman and children are made to work excessive days, low or no salary and in unsafe conditions. Some of the indicators of abuse and control are the person is bonded by debt, with no access to medical care or education and works excessive hours with no days off. Nannies and caregivers are susceptible to becoming trafficked for labour purposes, as they enter Canada through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, they can be brought to our country to work under false and misleading purposes. 

Human Trafficking cannot be ignored, as the negative impact it is having affects us locally and all across our country! The laws of demand and supply are a constant cesspool— where evil coexists to provide the inventory to sin. 

If men would make a conscious decision to stop soliciting for sexual purposes…it would be the demise of human trafficking. What upsets me is over the course of time; there have been boycotts against beef, literature, clothing and even Starbucks, whereas human beings are being branded, marketed and sold as commodities. 

While there are no easy solutions to this epidemic, measures can be taken to do your part to not add to the expanding problem.

Parents need to stop allowing devices such a cell phones to ‘babysit’ their child(ren). 69% of young teenagers, will go to meet in person, someone they have chatted to on-line. These gadgets are directly connecting them to predators all over the world. Parents need to be responsible about the technology readily given to their children. What could innocently begin as a gift for their kids birthday or Christmas, can have devastating results. Imagine walking to your front door with your child in hand and releasing them to the world of sexual servitude. Technology is the gateway to allowing a predator into your home.

If someone falls prey to traffickers, yet is rescued, within our court system is a myriad of difficulty in obtaining convictions.

The reality of sentences being successfully obtained is dismal. Since 2007, there have only been 71 convictions. Victims are terrified to come forward, having been threatened with the possibility of being deported back to their own countries. 

Additionally, traffickers will terrorize those in their possession with threatening to kill other family members.

One has to ask…where is the Hope?

There are several methods of crime prevention and awareness, including Service programs, Violence against Women, VictimLINK and Crime Victim Assistance Program available to helping those get out of human and labour trafficking.

CRAT (Capital Region Action Team) is an organization which was formed in 1998 in response to the “kiddie stroll” in Victoria, by people who cared about underage youth (under 19), who were trading and selling sex for survival. Its members come from the three levels of government, the health region, school districts, police forces, youth-serving agencies, parents, former sexually exploited youth and individuals with a commitment to helping solve the problem. www.crat.ca

In the lower mainland, The Salvation Army offers A Place of Hope & Restoration, for survivors of exploitation and human trafficking.

Their Mission Statement is: Deborah’s Gate seeks to provide a safe and restorative environment that fosters a holistic approach to healing for survivors of human trafficking.

Learn more by visiting their website at www.deborahsgate.ca

The concept that all human beings are born free should equal the dignity and rights they are entitled too, not something a person should have to fight for. 

By humanizing the work the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria does, is to improve the lives of those tangled in the web of trafficking.

If some of what I have written and shared is hard to stomach or not the joyful sounds of the season, I do not make apologies for shedding light on dark matters.

I would like all of us to open our eyes to the plight not only of our homeless and those in need, but also those who this Christmas will not be full of glee.

This is not simply a foreign problem or something that our Island is immune from.

Over two years ago, after having surgery to remove my gallbladder, I found myself in a grim place of not having any money, after my Employment Insurance finished.

Out of desperation, I became intertwined in the underbelly of our city. A place where dungeons really do exist and code names thrive. What began as an article on human trafficking quickly escalated into a danger zone of transgressions. I was swept up in a place, where my life was one step away, from what I have exposed in this blog post.

Economic hardship, living with two mental health issues, isolation and my own past history of sexual abuse, built up the perfect breeding ground to human trafficking. Furthermore, being the victim of an unreported sexual assault had me bound to shame and silence. Fortunately, I was never trafficked.

By the saving grace of God, I was able to fight my way back to what is a normalized society. There was an unspoken awareness that if ever I became homeless, I would not subject my life to such exploitation.

Therefore, upon finding myself without shelter or income this November, I chose to sleep in my car… because it was my safe haven.

Attending the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria workshop, allowed me a platform to be educated and receive information that is critical to better discernment. I listened to exceptional presentations, which has given me a comprehensive understanding to the human trafficking, occurring right here in Victoria.

Therefore, my Christmas wish is to ask others who want to be part of the solution, please click on one or more of the following links:

The concept of the Blue Blindfold is 'Don't Close Your Eyes' to Human Trafficking. The blue blindfold represents the risk of people having their eyes closed and not being aware of the crime that may be going on around them.

http://www.blueblindfold.gov.ie/

Domestic Sex Trafficking of Aboriginal Girls in Canada (article)

https://fncaringsociety.com/sites/default/files/online-journal/vol3num3/Sethi_57.pdf

Silvia Mangue Alene, Member of the Advisory Table for Local Immigrants/Blogger

http://silviamangue.com/about-me/

UNICEF: https://www.unicef.org/protection/

BC Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons:  

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octiptraining/index.html

My sincerest gratitude to Steven Baileys, Community Development Coordinator at ICA, for inviting me to be a part of something worthy of writing and sharing!

I thank you, for the time you gave me to present my journey to others and the impact the Stop Human Trafficking workshop, had on me.

By TL Alton