http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/why-do-men-think-its-ok-to-buy-these-girls-242056/
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/human-trafficking-50-charges-laid-across-nova-scotia-in-2017-241832/
The number of human trafficking charges in Nova Scotia is on the rise.
A total of 105 charges under the Criminal Code’s human trafficking sections were laid in the province between 2012 and 2017, the Public Prosecution Service says.
However, out of those numbers, there have only been five convictions.
“My understanding is that a human trafficking charge can be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” said a spokeswoman for the prosecution service.
The numbers outline a shift. In 2012, there were no human trafficking charges, but 2017 saw 50 charges spread over 10 cases. The data for the numbers of convictions in 2017 was not available.
Between 2014 and 2016, a total of 53 charges were laid. A total of two charges were laid in 2013.
Halifax had a higher number of police-reported human trafficking violations between 2009 and 2016, according to Statistics Canada, than cities like Hamilton, Edmonton and Calgary.
Lia Renaud, the founder of Caring About Change, an organization advocating for post-care for human trafficking survivors, said the system needs to change.
“There’s a reason why people don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “Unfortunately, Nova Scotia isn’t exempt from it.”
Tony Paisana, a criminal lawyer in Vancouver, explained that increasing the number of
convictions could be improved by better support for victims.
The difficulty, Paisana said, is that victims are either traumatized from their experiences or are still immersed in the trafficking world.
These circumstances make it difficult to prove control over movement — an essential element in trafficking — and is one reason the accused often are convicted on lesser charges.
“Why I think you see this breakdown of convictions sometimes in a sex trade setting is there isn’t overt or easily provable control over the movements of the people,” said Paisana.
“You’re still capturing these people; it’s just not for the specific charge of human trafficking.”
Given the complexity of human trafficking cases, Paisana advised digging deeper into the facts.
“Sometimes these statistics don’t tell the whole picture,” he said. “Just because there’s been a small number of human trafficking convictions doesn’t mean that the person has been totally acquitted.”
Paisana explained that given the stigma and sentence associated with human trafficking, it shouldn’t be easy to prove.
“That’s the balance we’ve struck in the Criminal Code. You have to have that high standard of proof.”
Halifax Regional Police Sgt. Kathryn Willett, who heads up the the human trafficking and missing persons unit, also warned against relying too heavily on statistics.
The rise in charges, explained Willett, could be attributed to a number of factors.
“It’s quite complex,” she said. “When we look at the numbers, we have to take a lot of different things into consideration.”
For example, the unit was recently able to lay charges in a case dating back to 2013. At the time, the victim wasn’t in a position to co-operate but contacted police when she was ready to proceed.
Cases in which charges are delayed, explained Willett, skew the data.
When asked to estimate the current levels of human trafficking in Nova Scotia, Willett was unable to provide a number.
“To give you a specific number, I can’t give you that because it kind of comes in waves,” she said.
Willett said the emphasis in recent years has been on victim management, a stance that communities and families should embrace.
“When were dealing with topics as sensitive as this, everybody wants to help and I appreciate that but we need to put the victim and the complainant first,” she said.
“Criminal charges are one piece of this puzzle. The most important thing is that (victims) exit and are able to get on the right path.”
Moving forward, Willett said she hopes communities are more proactive concerning educating youth about human trafficking.
Renaud said that the stigma around human trafficking makes it a difficult issue to discuss and support.
‘It’s not an easy topic, even for the police to want to take on,” she said. “Who’s buying the sex? There’s people out there that are johns and they don’t want this information coming out.”
Statistics Canada says 95 per cent of victims are women. More than 25 per cent of the victims are minors.
The difficulty is that many victims services available in Nova Scotia only assist persons above a certain age and only females.
“A lot of people who are trafficked wouldn’t even qualify for such services,” said Renaud.
Heather Harman, the CEO for Halifax’s Open Door Centre, said the lack of direct services for trafficking survivors led to the centre’s help program.
They currently offer services to help victims and their families, regardless of age or gender.
And their services are in demand; the centre has had 17 appointments within the last six months.
“One of the most significant ways to turn this around is to raise awareness in the youth,” Harman said. “We have done awareness presentations to thousands of people in Halifax over the last 12 months.”
During appointments, Harman noted that the most frustrated clients are those dealing with the justice system.
“It’s very hard for youth to testify,” she said.
Pamela Rubin, co-founder of Nova Scotians for the Prevention of Prostitution and Human Trafficking, said law enforcement needs to step up.
“We have to start enforcing the laws that we have now and start, first of all, arresting johns,” she said. “We’re not seeing a lot of enforcement against johns.”
She also added that prevention starts with education.
“Let’s raise our sons not to think that it’s normal to sexually exploit someone. That’s the long game.”
