CALGARY- Experts, including the woman who inspired a Hollywood movie, gathered in Banff to discuss ways to combat the heartbreaking problem of human trafficking.
Those types of crimes are growing at a disturbing rate in Canada, prompting police, prosecutors and social service agencies to try and save those being bought and sold into the sex trade.
Presenters at the conference on Thursday included Kathryn Bolkovac, a former American police officer who exposed the United Nations’ involvement in sex trafficking in post-war Bosnia. Her incredible story even inspired the movie The Whistleblower, starring Rachel Weisz.
Now, she travels around the world, trying to come up with solutions.
“We’re never going to prosecute or arrest our way out of this problem,” she says. “The cops and professionals can’t prevent all the social injustice in the world, we’re only one piece of it.”
She adds that simply talking about it is a step in the right direction.
“We can make the effort and not walk away from it. My fear is people close their eyes rather than open their eyes.”
Over the years, more social supports have been set up for victims, which Natasha Falle knows the importance of firsthand.
“13 years ago when I left the man, I was deemed a criminal, a junkie, a sex deviant,” she says. “I was never considered a victim, let alone a trafficking victim. We never had that provision.”
Agencies now tracking the numbers involved in human trafficking report seeing a 500 per cent increase in the number of victims coming forward, over the past year.
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