{"id":11295,"date":"2024-01-23T17:02:09","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infotetquebec.com\/a-hotline-to-counter-human-trafficking\/"},"modified":"2024-01-25T12:41:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T17:41:29","slug":"a-hotline-to-counter-human-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infotetquebec.com\/en\/a-hotline-to-counter-human-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"A hotline to counter human trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Human trafficking can be difficult to recognize, and can take many forms. To inform the public and help those impacted by this crime, the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking launched a hotline in 2019.<\/strong><\/p>

Text by Marie-Anne Day\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>

In Canada, low-wage temporary foreign workers and people with precarious status are more vulnerable to human trafficking, specifically workplace exploitation, according to Paola Carmagnani, Senior Executive Advisor at the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking. These people are more at risk of abusive practices because they may be geographically isolated, unfamiliar with their labour rights in Canada, and may face language barriers.<\/p>

Various forms of human trafficking\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Human trafficking is the exploitation of human beings for the financial or material benefit of the trafficker. More specifically, “trafficking can exist in many forms and usually entails victims being caused to provide sexual services or labour through force, coercion, deception and\/or abuse of trust, power or authority” as stated on the Centre’s website. Sex trafficking and forced labor are the most common forms of human trafficking in Canada, according to data published in July 2023.<\/p>

  1. Trafficking for forced labor (or forced labor or labor exploitation) is the use of fraud, violence, threats or lies to force someone to work. For example, unsafe working conditions, abuse or discrimination, or wages lower than those stipulated in the employment contract may be indicators of trafficking.<\/li>
  2. Trafficking for sexual exploitation (or commercial sexual exploitation) involves forcing someone to provide commercial sexual services through manipulation, lies, threats or violence for personal gain in exchange for food, accommodation, money, drugs or transport, for example.<\/li><\/ol>

    In May 2019, the Human Trafficking Hotline (1 833 900-1010) was set up to counter this disturbing phenomenon. Between 2019 and 2022, it received over 12,700 calls, and 1,500 cases of human trafficking were identified across Canada<\/a>, particularly in Ontario (67%), Alberta (10%), British Columbia (9%) and Quebec (7%); this is the first independent national data on trafficking. In Canada, official government data published by Statistics Canada is based on cases reported to the police. In Paola’s opinion, the reality is that the rate of denunciation of this crime is very low. “Official statistics don’t come close to capturing the scale of the problem. Trafficking is very present in Canada, but it’s still very poorly understood. There are still a lot of misconceptions and misinformation”.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    She explains that trafficking is often associated with the image of a person being kidnapped, transported to Canada against her will, or confined. But the reality in Canada is quite different. “It’s difficult to understand the strategies of recruitment, isolation, coercion, control and exploitation. Very often, the victim herself doesn’t realize it,” says Carmagnani. “On the one hand, there’s ignorance, and on the other, there’s a lack of specialized training on trafficking at national level, including within the police, which means that even they miss some very strong indicators. Even if we’re fully aware of everything, it’s still very difficult to prove emotional coercion where there’s no tangible evidence,” she adds.<\/p>

    Here are a few indicators of forced or coerced labor (note that these indicators should not be read in isolation. A combination of several indicators is often required).<\/p>