Ontario urged to fund efforts to halt trafficking of young women

• A new report says Ontario has become a “major hub” for human trafficking and sexual violence in Canada, with most of the victims being local underage girls and young women.

The report by a provincial legislative committee is calling on the Liberal government to increase funding for the justice system and create a coordinated, provincewide strategy.

“These young women, girls really, underage girls and children, are being forced into sex work in our cities and towns, and they really are the girls next door,” said Progressive Conservative MPP Laurie Scott.

The government should provide the same sort of dedicated funding for an anti-trafficking task force as it did for Toronto’s Guns and Gangs initiative, Scott said.

The committee, which issued its report Thursday, said human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is the most common form of trafficking in Canada, and Ontario is acting as a “major” hub.

“We need to send resources to law enforcement and to the justice system so there is a concentrated team that works throughout the province, because these girls are trafficked widely throughout the province on a daily basis,” said Scott.

The committee travelled across Ontario hearing stories from 147 women who were victims of rape or sexual harassment.