Authors: Benjamin Perrin
âDR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
William Wilberforce and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both grasped a basic natural law: Oppression thrives where it is unseen and unheard. These courageous men knew that exposing the truth banishes oppression and nurtures freedom.
In painstaking detail, Wilberforce presented the barbarity of slavery to the Westminster Parliament, where the facts could no longer be ignored. King put his case against segregation and discrimination before the peopleâhe recognized the need for a “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist” as the first step toward positive change.
Wilberforce's and King's appeals were met with noxious lies, fraudulent justifications, and phoney excuses from those who either directly or indirectly benefited from the systems of exploitation being challenged or could not picture a world without chains. The wellfunded pro-slavery propagandists of Wilberforce's era claimed that each slave had a “snug little house and garden, and plenty of pigs and poultry,” and that slaves benefited from labouring for their masters. For his part, King was attacked on the grounds that non-violent protests against discrimination were “extreme.” As more people saw and heard of the oppression for themselves, however, the momentum to right these injustices became unstoppable.
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery that can be traced back to the earliest of recorded histories. So, too, can the calls for its abolition.
“When one is deprived of one's liberty, one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the fetters on as the one who had the power to
prevent him, but did not use it,” wrote the Greek historian Thucydides in
The Peloponnesian War
in 431 BC. His wisdom prevails today.
For millennia, philosophers and world religions alike have recognized the inherent obligation we have to take a stand against injustice. They recognized that the failure to prevent or mitigate harm when it is within one's power to do so is as blameworthy as directly committing the harm itself.
Our society has too many people willing to sit on the sidelines while their communities crumble around them. The proliferation of micro-brothels in homes, apartment buildings, and condominiums, together with the widespread availability of child sexual abuse imagery online, has brought sexual exploitation into our own neighbourhoods and living rooms. Traffickers expect people to mind their own business and not get involved when they suspect something is amiss. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the audacity to sell victims for sex in residential areas and in apartments and condominiums surrounded by neighbours. Remember how in Calgary, women from Southeast Asia were serving as indentured sex slaves in a massage parlour that was just blocks from an elementary school. Even more outrageous was the network of apartments and condominium brothels revealed in 2009 throughout the B.C. Lower Mainland.
“I just normally hear a lot of banging upstairs, but I never thought nothing of it,” said a neighbour in the Downsview apartment directly below Joyeuse. In this Toronto building, Tyrone Dillon allegedly forced the twenty-one-year-old Haitian mother to be sold for sex for a full seven weeks. “It wasn't like I heard screaming,” the neighbour added. Only after Joyeuse was allegedly beaten and called 911 was she finally free.
There are heroes in Canada's battle to combat human traffickingâ but not enough of them. These heroes are police officers who've identified the victims being sold and held their traffickers accountable. These heroes work for NGOs that give victims a shoulder to cry on, and the dignity of a bed to sleep safely in at night. But the greatest heroes of all in this struggle are the survivors of human trafficking
themselves. Despite the brutality and suffering they've endured, many are optimistic about the future and are rebuilding their lives one day at a time.
We must commit
to end the shameful and unjust practice of human trafficking with the same urgency and persistence we would if the victims were our sister or brother, daughter or son, mother or father, wife or husbandâbecause victims of human trafficking are these people to someone. Human trafficking is not a partisan issue of right and left but rather a critical question of right and wrong.
Ours is a country that aspires to be a beacon of hope, a bright North Star that can be seen on even the darkest night. We aspire to be a nation where there is freedom from fear, where all enjoy the liberty to live a life of their own choosing. Canada must renew its place as the “Promised Land” for those seeking emancipation. We must build a new Underground Railroad to freedom.
Let us earn the accolade bestowed upon us by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that Canada is a symbol of hope. Let us reclaim the fierce resolve of William Wilberforce to end exploitation based on our belief in the inalienable rights and dignity of all people. Together we can unearth the injustice that has taken root in our country and around the world. The national conscience requires that we restore our pledge to citizens and newcomers alike: Canada is a land of the True North, strong and
free.
Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say that you did not know.
âWILLIAM WILBERFORCE, SPEECH TO WESTMINSTER PARLIAMENT CALLING FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY MAY 12, 1789
APPENDIX
ORGANIZATIONS COMBATTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
International Organizations
Not for Sale
(United States, Thailand,
Philippines, Mexico, Uganda, Peru, Ghana, Canada, and Cambodia):
www.notforsalecampaign.org
Not for Sale started in San Francisco in 2006 as an abolitionist movement. It reaches out to survivors of human trafficking by mapping and documenting situations around the world and supporting projects abroad to help those in bondage.
International Justice Mission, Canada
(Head Office: London, ON; Field Offices: Bolivia, Cambodia, India):
www.ijm.ca
IJM is a human rights agency that assists in rescuing and caring for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression in developing countries. IJM staffers also work with local officials to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.
World Vision
(Active in nearly one hundred countries):
www.worldvision.ca
World Vision is a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organization that works with children, families, and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. They try to prevent and mitigate the
effects of human trafficking through awareness raising, education, victim care, and advocating for change both in Canada and abroad.
Shared Hope International
(United States, Jamaica, India, Fiji, Nepal):
www.sharedhope.org
Shared Hope International works to prevent, rescue, and restore victims of sex trafficking by raising awareness, empowering communities, and developing holistic restoration facilities. They've compiled several key reports on the international and domestic exploitation of women and children.
The Ratanak Foundation
(Canada, United Kingdom, Cambodia):
www.ratanak.org
The Ratanak Foundation has worked exclusively in Cambodia since 1990 and focuses on the secure aftercare, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of trafficked children rescued from brothels. The founding director, Brian McConaghy, was previously with the RCMP.
Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center
(Washington, DC)
The HSTC serves as a multi-agency platform for the United States government on matters concerning illicit travel. It collects, collates, and vets information and disseminates actionable leads to U.S. law enforcement, intelligence, and diplomatic agencies, as well as U.S. foreign partners.
Ukrainian World Congress Task Force to Stop Human Trafficking
(Head Office: Toronto, ON; contacts in over thirty countries, including Ukraine):
www.ukrainianworldcongress.org
UWC coordinates Ukrainian communities in the diaspora, representing the interests of over twenty million Ukrainians. More specifically, the UWC Task Force to Stop Human Trafficking coordinates the anti-trafficking activities of UWC member organizations
worldwide and provides awareness resources and educational assistance. To encourage future collaboration, UWC strives to connect member organizations with local NGOs.
Help Us Help the Children Anti-Trafficking Initiative
(Toronto, ON, and Ukraine):
www.chornobyl.ca
This project of the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund is committed to improving standards in orphanages throughout Ukraine. The initiative began because many young Ukrainians, some of them orphans, are being used as pawns in prostitution rings throughout Europe. The organization's objectives include exploring ways to eliminate the exploitation that many orphans experience after leaving the institutions; organizing anti-trafficking educational seminars for orphans and orphanage directors; and providing trafficking awareness and life skills for high school students and graduating orphans.
National Organizations
The Salvation Army
www.salvationist.ca/trafficking
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country, supporting four hundred communities across Canada. In 2004, the Canada and Bermuda Territory of the organization created an anti- trafficking network that seeks to raise awareness of sex trafficking and empower people to do something about it.
Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres
This is a pan-Canadian group of sexual assault centres that have come together to implement the legal, social, and attitudinal changes necessary to prevent, and ultimately eradicate, rape and sexual assault. As feminists they recognize that violence against women is one of the strongest indicators of prevailing societal attitudes toward females.
The Canadian Association aims to act as a force for social change regarding violence against women at the individual, institutional, and political levels.
Canadian Centre for Child Protection Inc.
www.protectchildren.ca
and
www.cybertip.ca
A charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of all children, the Canadian Centre aims to reduce child victimization by providing programs and services to Canadians. Initiatives include public awareness activities, a personal safety education program (“Kids in the Know”), a national tip line to report online sexual abuse of children (Cybertip.ca), and a program to help organizations prevent child sexual abuse (“Commit to Kids”). Cybertip.ca is a part of the Government of Canada's national strategy to protect children from online sexual exploitation.
Stop the Trafficking Coalition
STT was formed in Toronto and consists of members from numerous organizations and motivated individuals across the country. The group coordinates anti-trafficking efforts in the Ukrainian Canadian community, as well as liaising with other anti-trafficking organizations in Canada and abroad. Activities include lobbying and supplying information to government and police organizations, organizing human trafficking awareness events, and providing a valuable internet information service about current events (pertaining to Canadians) surrounding human trafficking. Goals include raising awareness, prevention of sex trafficking, and victim support.
Beyond Borders
National, bilingual, and volunteer driven, Beyond Borders is the Canadian affiliate of ECPAT International, a global network of
more than eighty groups in seventy-five countries. Activities include awareness initiatives, advocacy for improved legislation, monitoring of court cases, and promotion of effective prevention and protection strategies. Beyond Borders also provides education and training and intervenes in court cases to make sure victims have a voice.
Sex Trade 101
(Toronto, ON):
www.sextrade101.com
Sex Trade 101 offers training on all aspects of the sex trade and trafficking in Canada, replacing myths and stereotypes about prostitution with facts and true stories from women who've experienced it. Likewise, the group believes in helping those trapped in the sex trade to get out alive, with their minds and their lives intact.
The Future Group
TFG's work has centred on confronting human trafficking and child sexual exploitation in Canada and abroad. The organization co-operates with source countries to address the root causes of human trafficking, working closely with local NGOs. In Canada, TFG conducts awareness raising activities and policy research to improve the country's response.
Walk with Me
Founded in May 2009, this NGO provides education, awareness, and training programs for the public, law enforcement officers, social agencies, and others who are concerned about human trafficking in Canada. Walk with Me also offers immediate victim services and longterm case management for human trafficking victims in collaboration with other organizations across Ontario.
Provincial and Local Organizations
B.C. Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons
OCTIP is responsible for the development and overall coordination of British Columbia's strategy to address human trafficking under the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. Hotline: 1-888-712-7974.
REED (Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity)
(Vancouver, BC):
www.embracedignity.org
REED works to end trafficking and sexual exploitation and strengthen the anti-trafficking movement. It provides safe spaces and companionship for women, public education on trafficking, and community empowerment on how to end prostitution through systemic change.
Servants Anonymous Society