Support services grow for trafficking victims
CHERYL CLOCK
When a victim of human trafficking asks for help in Niagara, she will likely find services that are disconnected, and not tailored to her specific needs.
While intentions are good, organizations can lack the knowledge or tools to help women stay free from the sexual exploitation that has dominated their lives, and to eventually heal themselves, says Krystal Snider, skills development co-ordinator at the YWCA Niagara Region. She is working to change that. The YWCA, in partnership with the Niagara Sexual Assault Centre, has received a $25,000 grant from the Canadian Woman’s Foundation to develop an anti-human trafficking action plan for Niagara.
The goal is to make it easier for victims to access a multitude of supports seamlessly, she says.
Services need to be better coordinated, so that everyone knows what everyone else is doing. And gaps need to be identified, she says. Work begins with a forum in November, that will bring together every group and person in the region who works with victims. Think Niagara Regional Police, Victim Services Niagara, the Niagara Health System, and more.
One unknown that needs to be better understood, is the pervasiveness of trafficking in the region, she says. It’s known that Niagara is a hotspot, due to the variety of strip clubs and massage parlours and its proximity to the U.S.
In Canada, most trafficking is domestic, typically in a corridor that includes Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto, Windsor and Montreal, she says.
Not all sex trade workers are victims of human trafficking, and it does not always involve moving women across provinces, she says. Instead, what distinguishes the two is exploitation. Trafficked victims are oppressed by typically male pimps who control everything in the woman’s life — their money, the frequency of jobs, johns, type of sex acts the women are forced to perform — usually under the threat of physical violence and psychological domination, she says.
“Victims of trafficking have experienced a tremendous amount of trauma,” says Snider. “Women might be forced to see 12 men a day. What does that do to you psychologically? And what does that do to your physical body?”
Their needs are complex. It takes an average of seven attempts for her to leave a trafficker, she says.
Women are recruited using methods that are both insidious and cleverly psychological, often leaving women thinking it’s their own choice, she says.
“A woman might have a pimp who is like a Romeo, who befriends you and becomes your boyfriend,” says Snider. “Someone you really, really care about.”
Eventually, the conversation deviates into a suggestion that the women might consider seeing a client “so we can have some more money,” says Snider.
“She’s feeling like she chose to do that,” she says.
“They feel like this is their boyfriend, and this is their choice.”
They don’t understand that had they refused, the outcome would likely have been violence, she says.
“Over a period of time, it gets more violent, and women are psychologically beat down by traffickers.”
Women become dependant and vulnerable. They believe the lies told by the traffickers: no one else loves you, you don’t have anywhere else to go, your women friends will be harmed if you leave.
“Women feel like they can’t leave,” says Snider.
Other times, women recruit other women.
On occasion, women have entered the YWCA’s emergency shelter to entice female residents with nice clothes and promises of money. “I know this guy. He’ll hook you up with some clients,” they might say. Victims recruiting victims.
Shelter staff are trained to recognize this covert headhunting and stop it immediately, she says.
An action plan will encompass every possible entry point, places where a victim would ask for help.
The ability to accurately identify them as trafficked victims is essential. If a woman doesn’t realize what’s happening to her, she could be misidentified as a victim of domestic violence, and then offered services that don’t meet her needs and further isolate her, says Snider.
She leads a YWCA drop-in program called Sex Trade on My Terms which gives women a safe, weekly refuge. Many sex trade workers who have attended the program report being trafficked at some point in their lives, says Snider. Often women are finally dropped by traffickers when they become too old, or their addictions become so severe they are not marketable, she says.
Victims also need a quick response, not wait lists for counselling, and long-term programs instead of services that end before a woman feels safe enough to share her experiences, she says. “Our goal is if a victim enters at any part of the system, we will know how to respond.”
Women might be forced to see 12 men a day. What does that do to you psychologically? And what does that do to your physical body?” Krystal Snider, skills development co-ordinator at YWCA Niagara Region