Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery in which a person is exploited through forced labour or forced prostitution, by threats of violence, use of force, deception or coercion. Human trafficking exploits vulnerable people and violates human dignity.
God calls us to care for the vulnerable. He commands his people to “seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17-18, NRSV). God sees and hears the suffering of the oppressed: “he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted” (Psalm 9:12b NIV).
Each person has human dignity flowing from our creation by God in His image and His love for us. This human dignity compels us to respect and uphold each person’s inherent worth, and to not treat them as objects for our gratification or profit.
The EFC’s
May 2023 brief to a parliamentary committee studying human trafficking pointed out that prostitution is the most common endpoint of trafficking in Canada. It is the demand for paid sex that fuels sex trafficking. The EFC recommended that Canada scale up its efforts to identify and assist victims of human trafficking. It also called for Canada to maintain the current prostitution laws that reduce the demand for paid sex that fuels sex trafficking.
The EFC is preparing a brief (also in May 2023) in support of a bill that would improve the law against human trafficking. Bill S-224 would remove the requirement that a person in the victim’s circumstances would fear for their safety or the safety of someone they know. As a private member’s bill that began in the Senate, Bill S-224 has passed in the Senate and is now being reviewed in the House of Commons.
In May 2021 a parliamentary committee began a study of sex trafficking among Indigenous people. The EFC made a
six-page submission to the committee asking it to uphold the current prostitution laws that target sex buyers and pimps, and to provide for culturally informed, survivor-led support and exit services.
Older updates
The EFC is concerned that the federal government ended funding for a number of programs across Canada that help women and girls escape paid sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. See the EFC’s
letter of May 19, 2020. Here is a sample letter you can use to write your MP:
pdf or
docx.
The EFC
offered support for
Bill C-219 in June 2020. This bill would increase the penalty for sexual exploitation of a young person in a relationship of dependency or a person with a disability. This bill was
reinstated in 2021 and still under discussion.
The EFC welcomed a new
National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking in September 2019. The strategy focuses on preventing trafficking, protecting victims, prosecuting offenders, working in partnership and empowering victims and survivors to regain independence.
The EFC welcomed the unanimous Justice Committee report on human trafficking in Canada,
Moving Forward in the Fight Against Human Trafficking in Canada. The report, released in December 2018, recommends steps to increase education and public awareness, develop a consistent definition of human trafficking and move towards better data collection. It includes some of the actions recommended in the EFC’s April 2018 brief to the Committee. Read the EFC’s
full response with commentary on the report.
The EFC’s April 2018
brief submission to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights recommends the government maintain the current prostitution laws, renew the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and improve data collection.
EFC Director of Public Policy Julia Beazley participated in a roundtable in Winnipeg Sept. 10, 2018 on the way forward to end human trafficking. The federal government is developing a new strategy to end human trafficking to be released in winter 2019.
Find more information on Public Safety Canada’s consultations.
Bill C-75 in September 2018 threatens to weaken the good laws brought into force in 2014. The EFC
defended current laws in a written brief and oral presentation.
Click the "Learn More" link for our
April webinar on this topic, and the "Take Action" link for sample letters you can use to write to your MP (either
.docx or
.pdf).
The federal government provides some support to victims of trafficking. The EFC is asking the federal government to continue to support victims and increase its efforts to combat trafficking.
We can help prevent trafficking by raising awareness and reducing vulnerability. Working on issues of poverty and housing, improving the social determinants of health, strengthening families and communities – all of these reduce vulnerability to trafficking.
In the late 20-teens Canada also held an independent
national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. This inquiry identified and examined the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including sexual violence. Read the
final report from 2019. And check out the new
Indigenous Relations section of the EFC website.
Human trafficking is a major industry internationally, with revenues nearing the levels of drug trafficking. Organized crime is often involved, but it is very common for an individual to become a trafficker.
Human trafficking involves a person being forced, coerced or deceived into doing exploitive work. This may be forced labour or sexual exploitation. It involves various forms of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. A person may have initially agreed to an activity, but is then forced to remain against their will, due to fear for themselves or their family members, or an inability to leave or other reasons. The victim is exploited and controlled by their trafficker.
Internationally, trafficking often crosses borders to keep trafficking victims socially isolated. Canada is both a destination for trafficking victims and a stop along the way to other destinations.
But the majority of trafficking cases in Canada are domestic - Canadians are being trafficked within our borders, primarily for exploitation in the commercial sex trade. Traffickers may use the lure of a job offer or other opportunities, or by posing as a boyfriend.
Women and girls are the majority of those exploited by sex trafficking. Risk factors for trafficking include poverty, social dislocation and being a youth in government care. Indigenous women and girls are particularly at risk.
Canada ratified the United Nations’ Trafficking Protocol in May 2002. The protocol sets out measures to prevent trafficking, prosecute offenders, support and protect victims and co-operate internationally to achieve those objectives.
Specific human trafficking offences were included in the
Criminal Code in 2005, in s. 279.01 to s. 279.04. Other generic
Criminal Code offences that relate to human trafficking include abduction, confinement and intimidation. The
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act defines an offence of cross-border trafficking and provides a penalty, in s. 118.
The federal government is involved in preventing, detecting and prosecuting human trafficking. For example, it undertakes awareness-raising and educational efforts, as well as providing some support for victims of trafficking. Canada had a National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking as a four-year program, launched in June 2012, but it has not been renewed.
Get a good current overview of these issues by watching our
April 2018 webinar on this topic.