Front-line workers confronting human trafficking get some help

‘What you see on the streets is just the tip of the iceberg’

A coalition of agencies working to end human trafficking in Hamilton has launched its first community tool kit — a two-years-in-the-making guide to better equip frontline responders helping victims flee violence.

Human trafficking takes many forms, from forced labour to organ harvesting, but by far the most common is sexual exploitation. It’s a crime that happens regularly in Hamilton, in part because of its proximity to airports and major highway corridors, it’s an urban centre and it’s close to Indigenous communities, where women and girls are especially at risk.

Yet there are few specialized services in the city, so the Hamilton Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition of 35 agencies formed.

“Unfortunately, Hamilton and Niagara are lacking specialized supports for human trafficking, so if we can equip our existing agencies to respond effectively, then we can do justice for survivors,” said Tessa Mcfadzean, assistant director at Good Shepherd Women’s Services and the coalition’s chair. “Collaboration and community engagement is really important.”

The full-day conference in Hamilton on Tuesday was a first for the coalition, culminating in the launch of the 82-page guide that includes information about the prevalence of sex trafficking in Hamilton and what resources are available.

It was presented by its author, Jennifer Lucking, executive director of Restorations,

which is working to build secondstage housing for survivors. She called on the community to focus on limiting barriers and to have a “willingness to meet a trafficked person where they’re at.”

For many survivors, it can take seven to 10 attempts before they actually leave, many being pulled back in though manipulation, violence and a system often illequipped to help with the complexity of trafficking victims. The conference heard from two survivors who shared the years of violence they endured and spoke about the “invisible chains” that kept them there.

The event put a particular focus on Indigenous people, who represent a disproportionate number of sex-trafficking victims. In Canada, the Indigenous population sits at about four per cent, yet more than 50 per cent of sex-trafficking victims are Indigenous women and girls. The average age that all girls are recruited is 12.

“What you see on the streets is just the tip of the iceberg,” Jodi Rock of the Native Women’s Centre told the conference.

The centre is the only agency in the community with funding for human trafficking-specific shelter beds. This includes five beds through its Healing Sisters program at the Mountain shelter.

Another new resource for the community is Candace Morley, Hamilton YMCA’s first youth-intransition worker, anti-human trafficking, who was hired in September.

So far this year, she’s already taken on 50 mostly female clients across the Golden Horseshoe, including 31 in Hamilton. They’re 13 to 25 years old, and all say they were sexually trafficked. The needs of each are vast — from reconnecting with family to accessing housing and other social services.

There are several ways a trafficker preys on a victim, from using brute force or threats, to the “Romeo” pimp, who feigns being in love. Morley said it can take them 30 seconds to spot the most vulnerable girl in a group.

Loretta Hill-Finamore, director of youth services at Good Shepherd, said she’s also noticed a trend of girls with intellectual disabilities being targeted, including one case where a girl was approached on a Hamilton bus.

Most victims do not want to go to the police, but Sgt. Kathy Stewart, a human-trafficking investigator with the Hamilton police vice and drug unit, told the conference they are working to lay charges where possible.

This year the unit is investigating six human-trafficking cases that include three arrests and 17 charges laid.

Stewart said she spends most days looking through online escort ads — the most common way women and girls are trafficked. Victims are also being targeted through social media.

“Every single hotel in Hamilton has escorts working out of it,” Stewart said.