Last December’s report from the Ontario Legislature’s Select Committee on Sexual Violence and Workplace Harassment identified the province as a major hub for human trafficking. Through the testimony of experts and survivors, the committee learned that 90 per cent of sex trafficking victims, predominantly female, are Canadian born. They come from communities across Ontario, from every cultural and socio-economic background. They are the girls next door.
Ontario’s current legislation is inadequate to combat human trafficking. While recent amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada created new offences for the trafficking of persons, there is an ongoing need for provincial laws to support or supplement the criminal court process. That court process can provide some protection for victims through no-contact provisions in bail and probation orders. Victims are also able to pursue remedies through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and other victim support services. A problem arises, however, when proceeding with criminal charges is not in the best interests of the victim or simply is not possible. This is especially true for victims of human trafficking, as the criminal court process is often detrimental to a survivor’s mental health and recovery.
In instances where it is not advisable or possible to proceed criminally, there must be other legal avenues to protect survivors and assist them to recovery. As it stands, Ontario has no legislation that applies specifically to survivors of sex trafficking. The Child and Family Services Act is the only provincial legislation that would have some application to sex trafficking. The CFSA defines a “child” for the purpose of child protection orders as a person under the age of 16. Victim support groups and police report that the average age of trafficking victims is about 14, and certainly the CFSA is there to protect minors who are being sold for sex.
The glaring gap in Ontario is for those victims who are 16 years of age and older. I have heard from police officers who encounter young women over the age of 16 whom they strongly suspect are being trafficked for sex by manipulative and controlling pimps. I have heard testimony before a legislative committee of parents who are desperately searching for their “adult” children whom they believe are being sold for sex by pimps who originally posed as their daughters’ “boyfriends.” There is no legal mechanism currently in place for victims’ services, police, or parents to rescue an adult trafficking victim from the grips of her trafficker and keep him away from her. As one survivor said, “No 16-year-old consents to being a prostitute.”
Additionally, the CFSA was never designed to address sex trafficking. It is first and foremost intended to protect children who are being abused in a domestic situation by a family member or a person who lives with them. It does not anticipate the circumstances of trafficking victims, who are groomed and manipulated by non-family members — usually men who act as their “boyfriends.” Trapped by violence and sometimes addicted to drugs, victims are frequently held captive in hotels and motels far away from home.
Manitoba is the only province in Canada to enact legislation specifically designed to protect victims of sex trafficking. Of note, Alberta’s Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act, (2000), which is primarily aimed at ending child exploitation, allows the director of Protection of Children in Prostitution to obtain an order apprehending the victim and taking her or him back home or to a safe house. Most importantly, Alberta’s legislation extends the protection to persons under the age of 19.
Manitoba’s legislation allows child protection agencies, parents of children under 18, or a victim over the age of 18 to apply for a protection order that is then served on the trafficker. The ex parte order contains specific non-contact provisions that remain in place for a minimum of three years with stiff penalties for breaches. Experts maintain that at least three years is required for a victim to begin to heal and sever the psychological ties with her trafficker. Manitoba also created the tort of human trafficking, allowing survivors to sue their traffickers for compensation and an accounting of profits without having to prove damages. Manitoba is rightly heralded by experts as a pioneer for its multi-disciplinary and survivor-centric approach to combating sex trafficking.
Without specific Ontario legislation to address human trafficking, there are few avenues to rescue and protect victims who fall outside the purview of the CFSA. Now seen as a major hub for sex trafficking, it is appalling for Ontario to lag so far behind other provinces in protecting the girl next door from this form of modern-day slavery.
Laurie Scott is the MP for the riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock and serves as the Ontario PC critic for women’s issues.
Ontario’s current legislation is inadequate to combat human trafficking. While recent amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada created new offences for the trafficking of persons, there is an ongoing need for provincial laws to support or supplement the criminal court process. That court process can provide some protection for victims through no-contact provisions in bail and probation orders. Victims are also able to pursue remedies through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and other victim support services. A problem arises, however, when proceeding with criminal charges is not in the best interests of the victim or simply is not possible. This is especially true for victims of human trafficking, as the criminal court process is often detrimental to a survivor’s mental health and recovery.
In instances where it is not advisable or possible to proceed criminally, there must be other legal avenues to protect survivors and assist them to recovery. As it stands, Ontario has no legislation that applies specifically to survivors of sex trafficking. The Child and Family Services Act is the only provincial legislation that would have some application to sex trafficking. The CFSA defines a “child” for the purpose of child protection orders as a person under the age of 16. Victim support groups and police report that the average age of trafficking victims is about 14, and certainly the CFSA is there to protect minors who are being sold for sex.
The glaring gap in Ontario is for those victims who are 16 years of age and older. I have heard from police officers who encounter young women over the age of 16 whom they strongly suspect are being trafficked for sex by manipulative and controlling pimps. I have heard testimony before a legislative committee of parents who are desperately searching for their “adult” children whom they believe are being sold for sex by pimps who originally posed as their daughters’ “boyfriends.” There is no legal mechanism currently in place for victims’ services, police, or parents to rescue an adult trafficking victim from the grips of her trafficker and keep him away from her. As one survivor said, “No 16-year-old consents to being a prostitute.”
Additionally, the CFSA was never designed to address sex trafficking. It is first and foremost intended to protect children who are being abused in a domestic situation by a family member or a person who lives with them. It does not anticipate the circumstances of trafficking victims, who are groomed and manipulated by non-family members — usually men who act as their “boyfriends.” Trapped by violence and sometimes addicted to drugs, victims are frequently held captive in hotels and motels far away from home.
Manitoba is the only province in Canada to enact legislation specifically designed to protect victims of sex trafficking. Of note, Alberta’s Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act, (2000), which is primarily aimed at ending child exploitation, allows the director of Protection of Children in Prostitution to obtain an order apprehending the victim and taking her or him back home or to a safe house. Most importantly, Alberta’s legislation extends the protection to persons under the age of 19.
Manitoba’s legislation allows child protection agencies, parents of children under 18, or a victim over the age of 18 to apply for a protection order that is then served on the trafficker. The ex parte order contains specific non-contact provisions that remain in place for a minimum of three years with stiff penalties for breaches. Experts maintain that at least three years is required for a victim to begin to heal and sever the psychological ties with her trafficker. Manitoba also created the tort of human trafficking, allowing survivors to sue their traffickers for compensation and an accounting of profits without having to prove damages. Manitoba is rightly heralded by experts as a pioneer for its multi-disciplinary and survivor-centric approach to combating sex trafficking.
Without specific Ontario legislation to address human trafficking, there are few avenues to rescue and protect victims who fall outside the purview of the CFSA. Now seen as a major hub for sex trafficking, it is appalling for Ontario to lag so far behind other provinces in protecting the girl next door from this form of modern-day slavery.
Laurie Scott is the MP for the riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock and serves as the Ontario PC critic for women’s issues.
