Peterborough is getting a home for young girls at risk of human trafficking and sexual exploitation — the first in Canada as part of the Daughter Project.
“We served 58 clients in our fiscal year last year,” said Emily Poulin, executive director of victim services of Peterborough-Northumberland.
“So far this year we’ve helped 68 victims of human trafficking and our fiscal year isn’t over yet.”
The numbers are sobering, which is why Global Family Canada (GFC) has decided to act.
The international non-profit group plans to open a short-term shelter that will help girls ages seven to 11 at risk.
“We know that low value and low self-esteem is the number one thing that makes girls vulnerable for exploitation and trafficking. So we commend the community of Peterborough for recognizing that this is a problem,” said Cathy Tollefson, executive director of GFC from her Whitby home.
The Daughter Project has already chosen a location in Peterborough that will house up to six girls at a time. They’ll spend six months to a year getting treatment and service, then move out.
“It’s one of the major gaps that we’ve identified in the last couple years working victims of human trafficking, so I think it’s timely and something that’s very much needed in the community,” Poulin says.
Before the new place can open this fall, there is much to do, such as getting a licence from the province and raising enough money to cover the cost of operating the first few months.
“We need to have over $100,000 in the bank so we know we can pay staff and do all the programs and care for the girls before the government funding that will come in,” Tollefson says.
She hopes the community will help financially with the project while Poulin says parents can help early on by watching what their kids are saying online.
“Somebody posting ‘I hate small towns’ or ‘I got into a big fight with my parents’ — those are easy ways that (pimps) can get in and they jump in on those vulnerabilities.”
The Daughter Project operates 13 girls home in the United States.