Police say human trafficking is strongly linked to high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls, but there are major knowledge gaps that keep pervasive trafficking activities hidden in plain sight.
RCMP assistant commissioner Joanne Crampton told the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on Monday that current statistics on human trafficking are “not anywhere near” the real picture.
READ MORE: Indigenous children still being treated unequally by provinces
The inquiry is holding its final hearings this week in St. John’s, N.L., with experts providing testimony on sexual exploitation, human trafficking and sexual violence.
![Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get daily National news
Crampton touched on the challenges of policing when it comes to human trafficking in Canada, citing a lack of accurate data stemming from under-reporting and the vulnerabilities of Indigenous women to exploitation.
Insp. Tina Chalk testified about her work training the Ontario Provincial Police to recognize the signs of trafficking, saying she likely missed instances of it earlier in her career because she couldn’t detect the signs.
Commissioner Michele Audette also noted the historic significance of the hearings, saying inquiry staff did the best they could despite the federal government’s recent rejection of the inquiry’s request for a two-year extension, instead extending it for six months.
- Jasper wildfire: Alberta government to look into mixed messaging in evacuation orders
- Jasper National Park wildfire evacuees told to take roundabout route back to Alberta
- ‘A big green light to cut’: What to expect from the Bank of Canada this week
- New and used vehicle supply is surging. Here’s how prices are reacting
Comments