Stouffville Review, December 2022

4 STOUFFVILLE REVIEW COMMUNITY
DECEMBER 2022
Many human trafficking victims are as young as 13
STOUFFVILLEREVIEW.COM
BY JENNIFER MCLAUGHLIN
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Human trafficking for sexual exploitation
is one of the most rapidly growing and
lucrative crimes worldwide, and it’s happening
right here in York Region.
The impact on victims, survivors, families,
and communities is devastating.
The Anti-Human Trafficking York
Region Conference 2022 was recently
presented virtually over four sessions. Signs
and risk factors of human trafficking, community
support for victims and survivors,
and legislation to combat it were among the
topics discussed.
Human trafficking involves recruiting,
transporting, transferring, receiving, holding,
concealing, harbouring, or exercising
control, direction, or influence over a
person for exploitation.
The conference focused on human trafficking
involving sexual exploitation, given
its prevalence in York Region. Jasmine
De Fina, a human trafficking specialist
for Victim Services of York Region and
executive director of SafeHope, Canada’s
only long-term comprehensive program for
survivors of human trafficking, spoke on the
conference’s opening night.
She explained that a widespread
misconception about human trafficking is
that the victim is aware of the situation in
which they’re getting involved. The victim
is led to believe that they have a choice, but
through threat, force, coercion, manipulation,
fraud, or abuse of power, the trafficker
gets the victim to do something they don’t
want to do.
A trafficker may meet the fundamental
needs of the victim by providing food,
drugs, or alcohol. Sometimes, the victim
will receive lavish gifts. A dependency on
the trafficker grows.
She explained that the cycle of human
trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
is very similar to domestic violence
in terms of the methods of control, often
starting in a “honeymoon phase.” Initially,
the trafficker is highly attentive and loving
but eventually starts to pull back and seems
angry. The victim is desperate to feel love
and will do anything to get it back.
In Canada, the majority of victims
are women and girls. The average age of a
young trafficking victim is 13.
There are a variety of insecurities that
can make an individual vulnerable to the
dangers of trafficking. Low self-esteem,
drug dependency, and abandonment are
just a few.
Bonnie Harkness, chief operating
officer of 360°kids, spoke to conference
participants about the connection between
homelessness and human trafficking. She
explained that some kids become homeless
because of human trafficking, and some
become victims of human trafficking because
they are homeless. These individuals
rely on “survivor sex” through trafficking
to fulfil basic needs like food and shelter.
The 360°kids HOPE Program provides
transitional housing and wrap-around
services for female survivors of human
trafficking aged 16-26 in York Region.
She added that given York Region is
considered a relatively affluent area, it’s
not only impoverished youth who become
susceptible to trafficking. Kids from more
wealthy families tend to be less “street
smart” and can be more vulnerable to the
deception that occurs when getting lured
into trafficking.
It’s crucial, said Harkness, to teach
our kids what to look for so they are aware
of the dangers that can occur in various
settings and situations.
Traffickers lure their victims through
dating apps and other online connections,
at schools, through friends or family members,
and at social meeting places such as
shopping malls. Visit victimservices-york.
org and 360kids.ca for information.