Human Trafficking Definition

The internationally recognized Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purposes of exploitation.”

Human trafficking is a crime. It occurs in all regions of the world, including Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. People from all backgrounds, socioeconomic categories, genders and ages can become victims of this crime The traffickers often use violence or fraudulent agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce and exploit their victims for profit. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-Trafficking/Human-Trafficking.html

Human Trafficking vs Human Smuggling

People often equates human trafficking with human smuggling, however, they are not the same thing.

Human Smuggling involves a person illegally crossing an international boarder. It is voluntary. The person chooses to be smuggled and there is an agreement to pay another person/group to commit a crime. The interaction/agreement ends when the person is across the boarder.

Human Trafficking may involve movement across and international boarder or may involve movement within ones own country. Human trafficking is not voluntary as the person does not choose to be exploited. It does not end with the person reaches their destination but rather they continue to be exploited for labour or services.

The Crime

There are 3 core elements that consists of the crime human trafficking: the act, the means, the purpose.

Physical and sexual abuse, blackmail, emotional manipulation, and the removal of official documents are used by traffickers to control their victims.

Facts and Figures

It is difficult to determine the full scope of trafficking in our country and in the Hamilton region. There is currently no standard, coordinated system to track the number of those trafficked in Canada. Also, the nature of the crime makes it difficult to determine its prevalence. Those are are trafficked do not typically self-identify as a trafficked person, either because they do not perceive themselves as being exploited or they fear serious repercussion if they were to come forward.

That being said, we can rely on federal, provincial and regional research, reports, news stories and accounts to provide a glimpse of the issue. Here is a snapshot of the issue.

95% of human trafficking in Canada is domestic sex trafficking.
93% of trafficked individuals in Canada are female.
Indigenous women and girls are over-represented in sex trafficking.
Sex Traffickers can make $3.5 million with 10 ‘recruits’ annually
Youth, especially minors are especially vulnerable to being trafficked.
Most recruited are young girls between 12-18 years of age.
Between 2009-2016 865 victims of human trafficking became known to police in Canada (93% female, 72% under 25 years old).
Human Trafficking is illegal and the traffickers can be punished with a prison sentence, seized assets and fines.

For more information from Statistics Canada, you can click here.