How to detect signs of human trafficking is the focus of a virtual seminar hosted by Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.
The 90-minute information session goes this Wednesday and will cover trends, challenges people face, ways help those who are being trafficked and more.
Human trafficking was once seen as a “big city problem,” but there is evidence that women and girls are being recruited or sold for sex in areas like Guelph, Wellington County and Waterloo Region.
“The most common thing to happen to people in Ontario who are being trafficked is to be moved up and down (Highway) 401, in and around the GTA,” said Cindy McMann, a public educator at Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.
“It is very easy for traffickers to take detours off the 401, come into small-town and rural areas, and recruit people from those places.”
The seminar will feature a panel of people who work in a variety of anti-human trafficking positions:
- Raquel Hall, intimate partner violence caseworker with Victim Services Wellington
- Olena Kania, project co-ordinator of Youth Activist Inc.’s “This is Human Trafficking” campaign
- Jaseth Purcell, anti-human trafficking counsellor with GW-Women in Crisis
- Brooke-Lynn Riley, victim services co-ordinator, Métis Nation of Ontario
There will also be a question and answer session with the panel after the presentations.
While human trafficking often involves physical abuse and violent means, it can also be as subtle as a conversation over coffee.
“The most common thing for traffickers to do is build relationships with people, whether it is befriending them or posing as a boyfriend/girlfriend,” McMann said.
She also notes that men and boys also make up a small percentage of those being trafficked.
“It is definitely out there. I think we are maybe not as good at spotting men and boys when they are being trafficked.”
Wednesday’s seminar coincides with Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which Parliament declared a national day in a unanimous vote in February 2022.
“This is something all parliamentarians agree on. That’s because we see it happening in our own community,” said Elgin-Middlesex-London Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, who helped spearhead the initiative to mark the day across Canada.
The Guelph Police Service has been partnering with the Waterloo Regional Police Service on a joint human trafficking team since 2020.
“The team has laid 61 charges in Guelph, 131 in Waterloo Region,” GPS media relations co-ordinator Scott Tracey said in an email. “During 2022, the team was able to identify 18 previously unidentified sex trade workers active in Waterloo Region, and 17 previously unidentified sex trade workers active in Guelph.”
Tracey goes on to say that the workers were identified through online advertisements and through proactive outreach by team members He says during the proactive outreaches, workers were offered support services through the team’s victim services interventionist counsellor.
Anyone interested in attending this virtual event will need to register.
People can also go to the Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis website for more information on the seminar.
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