We have 16 youth on the street here who are living as sex slaves or gang tools. Usually the story is that they have trauma at home, usually abuse, or torture in some cases, and they are brought to the notice of a provincial ministry that then tries to put them into foster care. That usually fails because sometimes the foster care homes are also traumatizing for these youth. Then, they are offered services that they're not able to use because of their trauma.
We often hear the terms “trauma-informed approaches”, or “trauma-informed care”. It seldom actually takes place.
I've met with the ministry and they've given me a long list of wonderful programs that these youth are supposedly given, and then there are the youth who refuse these services. The reason they refuse them is that the programs do not take into account their trauma and the things they've faced.
It could be something as simple as going to a ministry psychological counsellor and being asked by the counsellor to close their eyes in a room with a person of the same sex as their abuser, and then being cited as being non-compliant and told, “Don't come back.”
Abandoning youth.... Even when we do give them housing, the list on the website indicates about six or eight different services that they get. They don't get those services. This is the situation that these youth face.
The typical story we have in writing for you. We were able to get that done. It wasn't in time for translation, so we hope you do get this document later.
A typical pathway for one of these youth...and we have eight girls and eight boys. Teesha is in direct contact with all of them.
The typical path is that a youth experiences significant trauma at home. This can be anything, including torture—literally. People take bets with their friends on torturing their kids. This goes on. This is true. The scars and bruises finally get noticed. A good teacher can find them. The ministry gets notified about the youth, and the ministry lets them down in many ways. The youth becomes homeless and is thrust into survival mode. They hit the street at the age of 13 or 14. They are then targeted by a predatory adult who gives them clothing and warmth and food for about a month before they switch the youth into being a sex slave by grooming them.
The youth encounters multiple barriers to accessing resources and support. Their need for belonging and protection continues to increase, and is actually exacerbated by their ongoing trauma. They are groomed by that predatory adult. They are usually introduced to illegal substances and then become dependent on them. They become dependent on that predatory adult for some aspects. They are also literally imprisoned by them. They are blindfolded when they are transported to clients' homes. You'll see them wearing sunglasses. There's a blindfold under those sunglasses.
Their mental capacity diminishes under this kind of treatment. They've long lost any kind of trust in adults. Anybody coming to them with services is not likely to be believed. They don't have the skills or resources to have the capacity to change their circumstances individually.