Are You HEARTBROKEN Yet?
During the month of February I issued you a challenge to complete as part of your Valentine festivities. I asked that you would join me in learning more about trafficking around the world by clicking on a few of the links that I've accumulated at the side of my blog and then take time on the 14th to pray for the victims, survivors and people fighting on the frontlines.
For those of you who followed through with that challenge - THANK YOU!
Learning about what's going on around the world is probably one of the biggest and best things that we can do to begin a strong fight for freedom and the end of human trafficking world wide. It's difficult to pass a test that we've never studied for and by taking time to learn more and pray into innovative solutions you are taking strong steps towards creative solutions. So don't stop now, keep praying, keep learning and keep looking for ways to help.
As part of my own attempt to find out more I began to do research into cases of human trafficking across Canada. In many ways it seems like an issue that is not widely known about or acknowledged as being a problem here. But I have seen several advisory commercials recently educating Canadians about what human trafficking looks like in the Great White North. Forward steps are being made here!
After several failed attempts to find concrete sources about trafficking within Canada's borders I struck gold and discovered a government research paper with online sources listed. As I read through this paper and worked my way through the writer's bibliography I found my attention focused in a direction I did not expect.
Is Trafficking That Bad in Canada?
I know for many people, myself included, when I think of human trafficking I think of Asia. For me the memories of my own first hand encounters in Thailand and Nepal leave me with vivid images, sounds, smells, tastes and emotions regarding the struggles facing the women and girls all across Asia. When I consider trafficking as a more global problem I picture people I met in Mozambique or the youth I worked with in Moldova.
The slavery of Canadian women and girls in human trafficking doesn't cross my mind except to leave a question mark. We don't have that here in Canada, do we? I mean, it does exist but it only affects the immigrant populations from Asia, Europe or South America. Or, if you're really going to get technical, it might include homeless addicts in red light districts like Vancouver's westside. People born in Canada aren't just going missing from their homes. They aren't being lured, tricked or held captive like they are in Asia...right?
We would notice something like that, wouldn't we? There would be a nation wide cry for justice!
Maybe... but maybe not.
500 Missing Women...
Approximately 500 Canadian born women of Aboriginal heritage have gone missing in the past 30 years (Sethi, pg 57, para.1). The trafficking of Aboriginal girls has gone largely unacknowledged and this is evidenced by the fact that we have no statistics tracking the number of victims of domestic sex trafficking in Canada (Sethi, pg 59, para 4). In the absence of statistics directly referring to sex trafficking Anupriya Sethi references the numbers of aboriginal girls recorded as being involved in prostitution or sex work to show that they are grossly overrepresented. In various regions across Canada the percentage of Aboriginal youth involved in prostitution ranges from 14%-60% (Sethi, pg 59, para 4). Sethi continues to disclose on this topic by providing national data describing the percentages of aboriginal girls under the age of 18. Keep in mind that the age of consent in Canada is 16.
"National data in Canada reveals that 75% of Aboriginal girls under the age of 18 have experienced sexual abuse, 50% are under 14, and almost 25% are younger than 7 years of age (Correctional Service of Canada, cited in McIvor and Nahanee, 1998). In Vancouver alone, 60% of sexually exploited youth are Aboriginal (Urban Native Youth Association, 2002). One key informant reported that children as young as 9 are sexually exploited in Saskatoon and the average age of being forced into prostitution is 11 or 12" (Sethi, pg 59, para 4).
That sounds like a lot like the stats we read for human trafficking in Asia to me. There are a lot of reasons that something like this would go unnoticed in Canada. The most notable would be racist tensions and ignorance about what human trafficking actually is and how trafficked victims relate to those who traffick and sell them.
Right now I don't know how to use this information. What I do know is that it has begun to change the way that I think about human trafficking in Canada and it's safe to say that my heart is slowly and surely being broken.
During the month of February I issued you a challenge to complete as part of your Valentine festivities. I asked that you would join me in learning more about trafficking around the world by clicking on a few of the links that I've accumulated at the side of my blog and then take time on the 14th to pray for the victims, survivors and people fighting on the frontlines.
For those of you who followed through with that challenge - THANK YOU!
Learning about what's going on around the world is probably one of the biggest and best things that we can do to begin a strong fight for freedom and the end of human trafficking world wide. It's difficult to pass a test that we've never studied for and by taking time to learn more and pray into innovative solutions you are taking strong steps towards creative solutions. So don't stop now, keep praying, keep learning and keep looking for ways to help.
As part of my own attempt to find out more I began to do research into cases of human trafficking across Canada. In many ways it seems like an issue that is not widely known about or acknowledged as being a problem here. But I have seen several advisory commercials recently educating Canadians about what human trafficking looks like in the Great White North. Forward steps are being made here!
After several failed attempts to find concrete sources about trafficking within Canada's borders I struck gold and discovered a government research paper with online sources listed. As I read through this paper and worked my way through the writer's bibliography I found my attention focused in a direction I did not expect.
Is Trafficking That Bad in Canada?
I know for many people, myself included, when I think of human trafficking I think of Asia. For me the memories of my own first hand encounters in Thailand and Nepal leave me with vivid images, sounds, smells, tastes and emotions regarding the struggles facing the women and girls all across Asia. When I consider trafficking as a more global problem I picture people I met in Mozambique or the youth I worked with in Moldova.
The slavery of Canadian women and girls in human trafficking doesn't cross my mind except to leave a question mark. We don't have that here in Canada, do we? I mean, it does exist but it only affects the immigrant populations from Asia, Europe or South America. Or, if you're really going to get technical, it might include homeless addicts in red light districts like Vancouver's westside. People born in Canada aren't just going missing from their homes. They aren't being lured, tricked or held captive like they are in Asia...right?
We would notice something like that, wouldn't we? There would be a nation wide cry for justice!
Maybe... but maybe not.
500 Missing Women...
Approximately 500 Canadian born women of Aboriginal heritage have gone missing in the past 30 years (Sethi, pg 57, para.1). The trafficking of Aboriginal girls has gone largely unacknowledged and this is evidenced by the fact that we have no statistics tracking the number of victims of domestic sex trafficking in Canada (Sethi, pg 59, para 4). In the absence of statistics directly referring to sex trafficking Anupriya Sethi references the numbers of aboriginal girls recorded as being involved in prostitution or sex work to show that they are grossly overrepresented. In various regions across Canada the percentage of Aboriginal youth involved in prostitution ranges from 14%-60% (Sethi, pg 59, para 4). Sethi continues to disclose on this topic by providing national data describing the percentages of aboriginal girls under the age of 18. Keep in mind that the age of consent in Canada is 16.
"National data in Canada reveals that 75% of Aboriginal girls under the age of 18 have experienced sexual abuse, 50% are under 14, and almost 25% are younger than 7 years of age (Correctional Service of Canada, cited in McIvor and Nahanee, 1998). In Vancouver alone, 60% of sexually exploited youth are Aboriginal (Urban Native Youth Association, 2002). One key informant reported that children as young as 9 are sexually exploited in Saskatoon and the average age of being forced into prostitution is 11 or 12" (Sethi, pg 59, para 4).
That sounds like a lot like the stats we read for human trafficking in Asia to me. There are a lot of reasons that something like this would go unnoticed in Canada. The most notable would be racist tensions and ignorance about what human trafficking actually is and how trafficked victims relate to those who traffick and sell them.
Right now I don't know how to use this information. What I do know is that it has begun to change the way that I think about human trafficking in Canada and it's safe to say that my heart is slowly and surely being broken.
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