Statement in response to the announcement by the Government of Ontario regarding Human Trafficking Legislation on February 22, 2021
Toronto, Canada, 22 February 2021- While every effort and commitment to end human trafficking is meaningful, the recent announcement by the Government of Ontario to bring sweeping changes to legislation including – the development of a human trafficking strategy, oversight and enforcement to improve reporting potential human trafficking situations with a focus on minors – is to be commended, the legislation falls short of providing substantive, long-term solutions where they are needed most to this ever-growing crisis.
We need investments in creating more inter-jurisdictional law enforcement teams that can act quickly and decisively across municipal and provincial jurisdictions, funding of programs and supports in perpetuity and a truly, victim informed pan-Canadian strategy. While applauding the Government for its new commitments to end human trafficking, The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (The Centre) emphasises that more must be done to tackle the root causes of human trafficking.
In a report released by The Centre today – Human Trafficking Corridors in Canada – reveals that a lack of appropriate, sustainable and adequate funding presents a real challenge in providing services and supports to survivors. Almost half of all respondents (comprised of service providers and law enforcement), cited a lack of funding as an important barrier to providing services. Respondents stressed that there is simply “not enough funding” or programming to meet the needs of victims and survivors of human trafficking.
“We need long-term funding in perpetuity to tackle the very real, long-term trauma that survivors of human trafficking are forced to live with and to once and for all tackle this crisis,” said Julia Drydyk, Executive Director, The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking.
Lack of sustainable funding can be incredibly dangerous to victims who are attempting to leave their trafficker without the necessary supports and resources in place to do so safely. Human trafficking is a non-partisan, pan-Canadian issue, and funding anti-human trafficking initiatives in perpetuity is crucial to ensure that programs and services are able to continue to provide exceptional, meaningful and effective supports to victims and survivors. Funding in perpetuity will allow more victims to leave their traffickers and will fundamentally change their lives.
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Benita Hansraj
Director, Communications
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking
bhansraj@ccteht.ca
647-802-2842
About the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking:
The Centre is a national charity dedicated to ending all types of human trafficking in Canada. We work with like-minded stakeholders and organizations, including non-profits, corporations, governments and survivors/victims of human trafficking, to advance best practices, eliminate duplicate efforts across Canada, and enable cross-sectoral coordination by providing access to networks and specialized skills. We operate the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010, a 24/7, multilingual access to a safe and confidential space to ask for help and connect to services.
What is human trafficking?
Human Trafficking is defined as recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing or harbouring a person, or exercising control direction or influence over the movements of a person, to exploit them or to assist in facilitating their exploitation (sections 279.01 and 279.011 of the Canadian Criminal Code).
For more information regarding the information presented in the Human Trafficking Corridors in Canada Report or The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, please contact: media@ccteht.ca