By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
Oliver hears a plea to enter the fight against human trafficking in BC with stronger bylaws to target complicit businesses and support education and public information to fight the illicit industry.
Cathy Peters, BC anti-human trafficking educator, speaker and advocate presented to town council on the problem of human trafficking in the province, and explained steps municipalities can take to address it.
Human trafficking is the “recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing, harbouring, or exercising control over a person for the purpose of exploiting them.”
Peters explained that in 2014 the federal government passed the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PECPA) (Bill C-36).
PECPA has four parts. It targets the demand by criminalizing buying by sex profiteers. It recognizes the seller as a victim. It is intended to ensure there are exit strategies in place to help the victim get out of the sex trade and lastly, there are supposed to be robust prevention education programs in place.
Peters said she has been advocating for the cause since the bill became law, noting that “BC is the furthest behind every province in Canada.” They are furthest behind because in her words the province does “not enforce the federal law or provide any prevention education”.
Councillor Petra Veintimilla asked why BC is so far behind and Peters responded by saying “This provincial government does not have the political will to address it”.
On the government of BC website, they explain that The Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP) develops and coordinates British Columbia’s strategy to combat human trafficking. On their resources page, they have no reports published after 2016.
What can Oliver council do? “Reduce the demand, diminish the supply,” Peters commented.
Reducing the demand would mean addressing complicit businesses through the strategic use of bylaws.
She provided a list of some of the businesses often associated with the industry, “unregistered massage and body parlours, nail spas, day spas, modelling agencies, tattoo parlours, escort services, cheap bars and hotels . . . ”
Diminishing the supply means pursuing education and public awareness to inform the youth of vulnerable populations, for example, 50-90 per cent of those in the sex trade are indigenous she said.
Peters said that she had two requests for council, “number one, please write to the premier and solicitor general that this crime is a priority in BC, and please ask for funding for provincial law enforcement.” She further added that the province is in need of a provincial awareness campaign. “BC needs an inter-agency human sex trafficking task force, like they have in Alberta”
She also asked if they would consider signing on to the Human Trafficking Prevention Network of BC.
Councillor Aimee Grice commented, “I think when we are in smaller communities we sometimes feel immune to these issues.”
If you suspect someone is being trafficked or in danger contact your local police department, or call Crime Stoppers. There is also a Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010. More information on the campaign can be found at Beamazingcampaign.org.
