2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

to fill gaps in victim services. In 2006, the government
provided $5 million to support this initiative.
Canada also supports a number of domestic
and international programs for trafficking victims.
Law-enforcement and social service officials receive
specialized training to identify trafficking victims
and attend to their needs. Consular officials at
Canadian embassies, especially in source and transit
countries, receive training on protections and
assistance to potential trafficking victims.
Prevention
The government increased anti-trafficking prevention
efforts during the reporting period. Canada
coordinates anti-trafficking policies through its
Interdepartmental Working Group and the Human
Trafficking National Coordination Center, which
received increased staffing and resources in 2006.
The government continued awareness-raising
campaigns, such as supporting an anti-trafficking
Web site and distributing posters and materials,
including anti-trafficking pamphlets printed in
14 languages. High-level government officials,
including Canadian ambassadors posted abroad,
condemned human trafficking in public speeches.
Canada annually funds anti-trafficking programs
domestically and around the world, and contributes
funds to international organizations such as
UNODC. Canada hosts and participates in international
anti-trafficking conferences, sharing “best
practices” and other information.
During the reporting period, Canada took steps to
distribute anti-trafficking information to recipients
of “exotic dancer” visas — which have been used to
facilitate trafficking in the past — to inform them
of their rights, and to prevent potential abuses. Visa
officers are trained to detect fraud or abuse, and adult
entertainment establishments that wish to employ
foreign workers as “exotic dancers” are required to
follow certain regulatory mandates. In addressing
the demand for sexual exploitation, Ontario courts
reported sending defendants convicted for soliciting
prostitution to a Toronto “John School,” to educate
them on the exploitation of prostitution.
CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC (Tier 2 Watch List)
The Central African Republic (C.A.R.) is a source,
transit and destination country for children trafficked
for the purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation. While the majority of child victims
are trafficked internally, some are also trafficked to
and from Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Children may also be trafficked
from Rwanda to the C.A.R. Children are trafficked
for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude,
forced labor in diamond mines, shops and other
forced commercial labor activities, such as ambulant
vending. Awareness of trafficking in the C.A.R.
is underdeveloped. No comprehensive trafficking
studies have been conducted and little concrete
data exists. A 2005 UNICEF study on child sexual
exploitation, however, found over 40 sex trafficking
cases in Bangui and four provinces. Indigenous
pygmies may also be subjected to forced labor or
labor in slave-like conditions within the C.A.R.
The Government of the C.A.R. does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant
efforts to do so, despite limited resources. The
C.A.R. is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second
consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of
increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons
over the previous year. To strengthen its response
to trafficking, the C.A.R. should pass its draft law
prohibiting all forms of trafficking, investigate
whether its significant population of street and
other destitute children are victims of trafficking,
liaise with NGOs to provide specific assistance to
trafficking victims, and educate law enforcement
officials and the public about trafficking.
Prosecution
The Government of the Central African Republic
made some efforts to combat trafficking through
law enforcement during the reporting period. The
country’s laws do not prohibit any form of trafficking
in persons. The government failed to report any
trafficking arrests, prosecutions or convictions. The
government in mid-2006 drafted a law prohibiting
all forms of trafficking, and the Ministry of Justice
hosted a series of technical committee meetings to
make final comments on the legislation. In August
2006, the Central African Republic entered into
a bilateral agreement with Cameroon to combat
transnational crime, including trafficking. The
government does not provide any specialized training
to law enforcement officials about trafficking.
Protection
The C.A.R. government demonstrated modest
efforts to protect trafficking victims during the
reporting period. Because awareness of trafficking in
the C.A.R. began only recently, neither the government
nor NGOs operate shelters providing specific
care to trafficking victims. However, the government
has a shelter for orphans and destitute children,
some of whom may be trafficking victims. In addi-
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