Status of Women committee  Anyone under the age of 18 who is engaging in sex work is considered exploitation.

Status of Women committee  I think the conversation around data is actually a perfect example. Think about a survivor who has experienced trafficking and goes through the terrible process of having to tell their story to two, five or 10 people before accessing the services they need. By the time they're at a point, with a representative from a government or frontline agency, for that data to be collected....

Status of Women committee  I want to answer this question, but I want to provide the context that ACT Alberta only serves individuals 18 years and older, so I'm not necessarily the expert on that particular demographic. I will say the connection between online sexual exploitation and social media is very evident and the risks are absolutely there.

Status of Women committee  I can't imagine a scenario in which we can control that, so I'm not sure if the question would warrant further action. Does that make sense?

Status of Women committee  I can answer the first part of that question. The last question, I'm unable to answer, because I'm not a sex worker in that room with other sex workers answering it. I would say that a wonderful way to answer that question would be to provide that level of access to education, affordable housing, safe choices and a reasonable living income to be able to then see what happens and see what people's decisions are.

Status of Women committee  It would be to ensure that when they reach out, they're listened to, and how they define their experience is listened to as truth, not as something to be interpreted through our own value systems, concerns and biases. I think by ensuring that the first point of contact—reaching out for services, wanting to report an abuser, just seeking safe housing—is thoughtfully designed to be trauma-informed and person-centred....

Status of Women committee  We have absolutely seen this in Alberta. It's prevalent in the testimonials of the survivors and clients we have worked with. I certainly wouldn't say it's exclusively so, but it's certainly a higher percentage than you might think. In regard to data collection.... That's challenging.

Status of Women committee  We have a series of offerings. What's not uncommon in Alberta and, I suspect, Canada is to have a human-trafficking one-on-one module that tends to be a one-hour “lunch and learn”. That can have pros and cons, because there's so much context to provide. It is very hard to provide a nuanced understanding of trafficking and how it impacts different communities in that hour, but we try.

Status of Women committee  I believe that as women we can make that decision for ourselves.

Status of Women committee  I'm not “okay” or “not okay” with anything. My point and really the priority of my showing up today was to communicate that it's for each individual to decide for themselves how they want to live their lives and to have the agency to do so. It's our job to try to address the systemic issues that are restricting their ability to do so.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  I don't. I actually think I'm the least qualified person on this panel to answer that question. I would encourage one of the other folks who works more directly with the sex-working community to respond.

Status of Women committee  I would encourage digging down on how we're defining “trafficking” culturally with training but also in the law, and being very specific about how those terms are used. It will help the data quality if we're able to better articulate what trafficking is and is not.

Status of Women committee  I think there is always going to be a divide between the statistical data, which—as many folks have mentioned today—is, unfortunately, deeply flawed. There's going to be a gap between the statistical data and the lived experience and testimony of survivors. The stigma folks are experiencing when they're trying to communicate that something has happened to them and they've been exploited in different ways....

Status of Women committee  I want to start by saying that I know that law enforcement are coming from a good place and they're trying to do the best job they can. It's a flawed system. When we talk about creating anti-trafficking training, it has to also include nuanced training for law enforcement to understand the difference between consensual sex work and sex trafficking and to understand a trauma-informed response—that is, how to talk to someone who has experienced extreme trauma and is currently in crisis.